This 69-Million-Year-Old Duck-like Skull Reveals How Modern Birds Survived the Dinosaurs
In the icy wilderness of Antarctica, where glaciers now dominate the landscape, scientists have unearthed a fossil that rewrites the story of modern birds. The nearly complete skull of Vegavis iaai, a duck-sized bird that lived 69 million years ago,
Skull fossil discovery reveals oldest known modern bird
A 68-million-year-old skull fossil found in Antarctica has revealed the oldest known modern bird, which was likely related to the waterfowl that live by lakes and oceans today, according to new research.
Paleontologists Discover Fossil of the Oldest Known Modern Bird—but It Raises More Questions Than It Answers
Paleontologists have been arguing whether modern birds developed before or after the infamous asteroid for decades. Now, a team of researchers has analyzed a 69-million-year-old fossil belonging to the long-extinct bird Vegavis iaai that could put the discussion to rest.
69-million-year-old skull found in Antarctica is oldest ‘modern’ bird
The near-complete fossil skull, unearthed on Vega Island near the Antarctic Peninsula, reveals a bird that thrived in the challenging waters off Antarctica roughly 69 million years ago, just three million years before the dinosaur-killing asteroid impact.
An important new fossil of the oldest known modern bird
A new study by Ohio University found an important fossil of the oldest known modern bird, which lived in Antarctica when Tyrannosaurus rex ruled North America.
Antarctica's Ancient Bird Fossil Discovered as Oldest 'Modern' Avian Ancestor
Ancient bird Vegavis iaai, unearthed near Antarctica, holds the record as oldest lineage ancestor of all current birds. Fossil predates asteroid strike by three million years. Scientific community also addresses light pollution affecting Chile's observatories,
Ancient relative of geese is the earliest known modern bird
A newly analysed fossil skull settles a palaeontological debate over Vegavis iaai, confirming it as a relative of ducks and geese that lived 69 million years ago
Remarkable Fossil Discovery Hints at Antarctic Origins of All Modern Birds
A near-perfect fossilized skull discovered in Antarctica reveals the bridge between prehistoric and modern birds, a new study has found. The fossil is a specimen of a species called Vegavis iaai, which lived around 69 million years ago – more than 2 million years before the mass extinction that wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs.
Ancient duck-like creature discovered in Antarctica may be the oldest modern bird ever discovered
A new and nearly complete skull of Vegavis iaai discovered in Antarctica suggests that modern birds originated before the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.
Scientists Uncover a 69-Million-Year-Old Bird Skull—Could This Be the Oldest Modern Bird Ever?
A 69-million-year-old fossilized skull unearthed in Antarctica could rewrite the history of modern birds. The nearly complete skull belongs to Vegavis iaai, a prehistoric waterfowl species that lived alongside Tyrannosaurus rex at the end of the Cretaceous period.
66 million years ago, Antarctica was lush, temperate, and home to the oldest modern bird and T-Rex
A recently analyzed near-complete fossil skull found in Antarctica has revealed Vegavis iaai to be the oldest known modern ...
After the asteroid, the earliest bird ancestors thrived in Antarctica
With its glaciers and sub-zero temperatures, Antarctica hardly seems like a place of refuge. However, the now icy continent ...
The Search for the Original Silly Goose in the Fossil Record
Some paleontologists think that fossils recovered from Antarctica are evidence of birds similar to modern geese and ducks ...
First bird to roam Earth after dinosaurs were killed by asteroid revealed and it’s a relative of much-loved species
THE long-lost forefather of the beloved duck and goose has been discovered, after outliving the hardy dinosaurs. The ...
IFLScience on MSN9h
68 Million-Year-Old Antarctic Fossil Proves Existence Of Dinosaur-Era Ducks
A Cretaceous-era skull found on Vega Island, Antarctica, has been confirmed as a member of the same order as ducks and geese, ...