The discovery of an almost complete fossil skull of the oldest modern bird can help solve a long debate about the evolutionary history of our feathered friends.
The specimen belongs to a species of extinct bird known as VEGAVIS IAAIa relative of the ducks and modern geese that lived about 69 million years ago, the same time in which he Tyrannosaurus Rex North America trampled.
Vegavis It was first described two decades ago, at which time it was argued that it was an early member of modern birds, but more recent analyzes question this suggestion.
“Few birds are as many chances of generating as many discussions among paleontologists as Vegavis “, Said the author of the article and paleontologist professor at the University of the Pacific, Christopher Torres, who conducted the study while working at the University of Ohio.
“This new fossil will help solve many of those arguments. The main one is as follows: where is it located Vegavis In the tree of bird life? “
The new specimen, recovered from the Antarctic Peninsula in 2011, seems to end recent skepticism, since the shape of the skull reveals characteristics that are consistent with modern birds, specifically aquatic birds.
However, unlike most current aquatic birds, Vegavis It seems to have had powerful muscles in the jaw he used to overcome the resistance while diving in search of fish, using his legs to propel himself.
Part of the reason why the place of Vegavis In the tree of life it has been so difficult to locate is that the examples of modern birds are extraordinarily rare before the extinction of the final cretaceous that killed non -avian dinosaurs.
In the case of Vegavis surviving the impact of the asteroid may have been a matter of location; Antarctica served as a refuge thanks to its relative separation at that time.
Based on fossil evidence, it is believed that Antarctica of 66 million years ago had a tempered climate with lush vegetation, an ideal environment for the development of the ancestors of ducks and geese.
“This fossil emphasizes that Antarctica has a lot to tell us about the early stages of the evolution of modern birds,” said the co -author of the article and paleontologist at the University of Ohio, Professor Patrick O’Connor, in a statement.
Illustration of the “Vegavis IAAI” skeleton, with the preserved bones represented in white. Christopher Torres, Universidad del Pacífico
The birds from other parts of the world that date from the end of the reign of non -aviarous dinosaurs are, the researchers explained, barely recognizable compared to the birds with which we are familiar.
O’Connor explained: “Those few places with some substantial poultry fossil record of the upper Cretaceous, such as Madagascar and Argentina, reveal an aviary of strange species, now extinct, with teeth and long bone queues, only distantly related to modern birds.
“Something very different seems to have been happening in the confines of the southern hemisphere, specifically in Antarctica.”
For this reason, the impression that the Antarctic continent has left in current ecosystems is a subject of considerable interest to paleontologists.
As the co -author of the article and paleontologist of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Matthew Lamanna concludes: “Antarctica is, in many ways, the last border for the understanding of humanity about life during the era of dinosaurs.”
With International Newsweek information
