Ancestor of modern ducks found

A prehistoric fossil uncovered in Antarctica could be the oldest modern bird ever found and an ancestor of today’s ducks and geese. The discovery could help scientists continue piecing together the long evolutionary history of birds. The nearly complete bird skull is about 69 million years old. Called Vegavis iaai, it belongs to a species of waterfowl (birds that include ducks, geese, and swans) that lived at the same time as dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex. The duck-like species survived when all dinosaurs that were not avian (related to birds) died out about 66 million years ago. The mystery of Vegavis iaai began in 1993, when researchers discovered the fossil of a bird on Vega Island in Antarctica. It did not have a skull, which made it difficult to fully identify.…

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The Week Junior US (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 255

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