A nearly complete skull fossil found in Antarctica has revealed the oldest known modern bird species – a mallard duck-size creature related to waterfowl living by lakes and oceans today. The 68 million-year-old fossil belongs to Vegavis iaai, an extinct species of bird that lived during the end of the Cretaceous period.
The discovery is significant as it pushes back the timeline of modern birds by millions of years. Unlike other extinct bird species found in Antarctica, Vegavis was ducklike in size and similar to aquatic bird species such as loons. It had a unique lifestyle, using its legs to propel itself underwater while hunting for fish.
Vegavis fossil specimens previously lacked a complete skull, which made it difficult to identify the bird’s characteristic features. However, the new fossil found by the Antarctic Peninsula Paleontology Project has revealed modern characteristics, including a toothless beak and an enlarged premaxillary bone in the upper beak.
The discovery confirms that Vegavis is indeed a modern bird species, contradicting previous assumptions that modern-looking birds evolved after the mass extinction event. The study’s findings have important implications for understanding how animals survived catastrophic events and what determines which species survive.
The brain shape of the new fossil also shows characteristic features of modern birds, placing Vegavis in the group that includes all modern bird species. This makes it the earliest known member of this radiation, consisting of 11,000 bird species today. The discovery sheds light on how some animals survived mass extinction and what characteristics define surviving species.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/05/science/skull-fossil-oldest-known-modern-bird/index.html