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.
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.
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.
Loon-like waterfowl from dinosaur-era Antarctica is oldest 'modern' bird
Near the end of the age of dinosaurs, a bird resembling today's loons and grebes dove for fish and other prey in the perilous waters off Antarctica. Thanks to a nearly complete fossil skull, scientists now have identified this waterfowl as the oldest-known member of the lineage spanning all birds alive today.
Fossilised 69-million-year-old skull of oldest known modern bird discovered
The new skull exhibits a long, pointed beak and a brain shape unique among all known birds previously discovered from the Mesozoic Era.
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
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.
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.
Smithsonian Magazine on MSN1d
Oldest Known Evidence of Lead Pollution Found in Ancient Greece
New research has found that ancient Greece may harbor the oldest known evidence of lead pollution. After analyzing sediment ...
Live Science on MSN3d
Dolní Věstonice Portrait Head: The oldest known human portrait in the world
A tiny head carved from mammoth ivory looks back at us from the Stone Age. This sculpture, discovered at the archaeological ...
Archaeologists Reveal World's Oldest Known Rune Stone
Researchers pieced the stone together like a jigsaw puzzle from various fragments found at an ancient burial ground.
Which is the Oldest Known Civilisation in the World, Check Here
The Sumerians of Mesopotamia are considered the world's oldest civilisation, dating back to around 4000 BCE. The Sumerians ...
Science Daily2d
Octopuses have some of the oldest known sex chromosomes
Researchers have identified a sex chromosome in the California two-spot octopus. This chromosome has likely been around for 480 million years, since before octopuses split apart from the nautilus on ...