American and Australian paleontologists have discovered and explained the new, almost complete skull of Vegavis Iaai, a diver bird species in Footpro, which lived in Antarctica during the latest Cretaceous period between 69.2 and 68.4 million years ago. New fossils provide insight into bird feeding ecology and show morphology that supports placement among waterfowls in Crown Group (modern) birds.
Vegavis Iaai was first discovered 20 years ago by a research team led by Austin paleontologists, led by the University of Texas.
At the time, the species was proposed as an early member of the crown bird, which evolved into nests among waterfowls.
However, crown birds are very rare before end extinction, and more recent research has raised questions about the evolutionary position of Vegavis Iaai.
“There are few birds who are likely to start as many arguments as paleontologists do. Vegavis,” said Professor Christopher Torres of the University of the Pacific.
“This new fossil will help resolve many of these debates. Chief among them: Where are you? Vegavis Iaai Are you sitting on the bird of life tree?”
Almost complete skull of Vegavis Iaai collected during the 2011 expedition Antarctic Peninsula Paleontology Project.
Professor Torres and his colleagues produced an almost complete three-dimensional reconstruction of the new specimen.
Team analysis reveals typical bird brain shapes and supports the placement of Vegavis Iaai among the waterfowl family, and as relatives of ducks and geese.
However, in this study, the birds had elongated, pointed beaks that drive the strengthened jaw muscles.
“The fossil highlights that Antarctica has a lot to say to us about the early stages of modern bird evolution,” said Professor Patrick O’Connor of Ohio University.
“A bird known almost simultaneously from other parts of the globe is barely recognizable by modern bird standards.”
Furthermore, most of the few sites that have even preserved delicate bird fossils produce incomplete specimens that are so incomplete that they don’t only give hints to their identities. Vegavis until now.
“And some places with substantial fossil records of late Cretaceous birds like Madagascar and Argentina are the strange birds with teeth and long bone tails that are only associated with modern birds. It reveals birds.”
“It seems that something very different is happening in the distance in the Southern Hemisphere, especially in the Antarctic.”
Study was published in the journal Nature.
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Cr Torres et al. 2025. The skulls of Cretaceous Antarctic birds elucidate the ecological diversity of early birds. Nature 638, 146-151; doi:10.1038/s41586-024-08390-0
Source: www.sci.news
