Roughly 66.8 million years ago—not long before the end-Cretaceous extinction that wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs—a diminutive, quail-sized bird met an unfortunate and untimely end.

But the relatives of this pint-sized creature—a newly described fossil cheekily dubbed “Wonderchicken”—lived on, helping to seed the enduring, diverse lineage of birds that still fills the skies of the modern world.

Birds first showed up on the paleontological scene around 150 million years ago, making their debut with toothsome terrors like Archaeopteryx that likely resembled their more reptilian-looking dinosaurian ancestors, reports George Dvorsky for Gizmodo. Sometime during the Cretaceous, though, our feathered friends began to shed their teeth, bony tails and clawed wings in favor of more docile traits. But evidence of these ancient avians has been scant, leaving a gaping hole in the origin story of modern birds.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/67-million-years-old-oldest-modern-bird-ever-found-was-natural-turducken-180974460/

Thanks.

:)

PermeateFree said:

Roughly 66.8 million years ago—not long before the end-Cretaceous extinction that wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs—a diminutive, quail-sized bird met an unfortunate and untimely end.

But the relatives of this pint-sized creature—a newly described fossil cheekily dubbed “Wonderchicken”—lived on, helping to seed the enduring, diverse lineage of birds that still fills the skies of the modern world.

Birds first showed up on the paleontological scene around 150 million years ago, making their debut with toothsome terrors like Archaeopteryx that likely resembled their more reptilian-looking dinosaurian ancestors, reports George Dvorsky for Gizmodo. Sometime during the Cretaceous, though, our feathered friends began to shed their teeth, bony tails and clawed wings in favor of more docile traits. But evidence of these ancient avians has been scant, leaving a gaping hole in the origin story of modern birds.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/67-million-years-old-oldest-modern-bird-ever-found-was-natural-turducken-180974460/

If this is only 66.8 million years ago then there really is a “gaping hole” in the fossil record. True birds are more than 102 million years old.

The ratites (emu etc.) split from the other birds 102 million years ago. Even the split between the ducks and passerines is 89 million years ago.

For timing, see http://www.sci-news.com/genetics/science-genomes-48-bird-species-avian-family-tree-02340.html

but …

This is very close in time to the common ancestor of ducks and chickens, so “Wonderchicken” indeed. The missing link – between chickens and ducks.

mollwollfumble said:

PermeateFree said:

Roughly 66.8 million years ago—not long before the end-Cretaceous extinction that wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs—a diminutive, quail-sized bird met an unfortunate and untimely end.

But the relatives of this pint-sized creature—a newly described fossil cheekily dubbed “Wonderchicken”—lived on, helping to seed the enduring, diverse lineage of birds that still fills the skies of the modern world.

Birds first showed up on the paleontological scene around 150 million years ago, making their debut with toothsome terrors like Archaeopteryx that likely resembled their more reptilian-looking dinosaurian ancestors, reports George Dvorsky for Gizmodo. Sometime during the Cretaceous, though, our feathered friends began to shed their teeth, bony tails and clawed wings in favor of more docile traits. But evidence of these ancient avians has been scant, leaving a gaping hole in the origin story of modern birds.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/67-million-years-old-oldest-modern-bird-ever-found-was-natural-turducken-180974460/

If this is only 66.8 million years ago then there really is a “gaping hole” in the fossil record. True birds are more than 102 million years old.

The ratites (emu etc.) split from the other birds 102 million years ago. Even the split between the ducks and passerines is 89 million years ago.

For timing, see http://www.sci-news.com/genetics/science-genomes-48-bird-species-avian-family-tree-02340.html

but …

This is very close in time to the common ancestor of ducks and chickens, so “Wonderchicken” indeed. The missing link – between chickens and ducks.

I think this is just a classification thing. There are avian fossils between these bounds.

mollwollfumble said:

PermeateFree said:

Roughly 66.8 million years ago—not long before the end-Cretaceous extinction that wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs—a diminutive, quail-sized bird met an unfortunate and untimely end.

But the relatives of this pint-sized creature—a newly described fossil cheekily dubbed “Wonderchicken”—lived on, helping to seed the enduring, diverse lineage of birds that still fills the skies of the modern world.

Birds first showed up on the paleontological scene around 150 million years ago, making their debut with toothsome terrors like Archaeopteryx that likely resembled their more reptilian-looking dinosaurian ancestors, reports George Dvorsky for Gizmodo. Sometime during the Cretaceous, though, our feathered friends began to shed their teeth, bony tails and clawed wings in favor of more docile traits. But evidence of these ancient avians has been scant, leaving a gaping hole in the origin story of modern birds.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/67-million-years-old-oldest-modern-bird-ever-found-was-natural-turducken-180974460/

If this is only 66.8 million years ago then there really is a “gaping hole” in the fossil record. True birds are more than 102 million years old.

The ratites (emu etc.) split from the other birds 102 million years ago. Even the split between the ducks and passerines is 89 million years ago.

For timing, see http://www.sci-news.com/genetics/science-genomes-48-bird-species-avian-family-tree-02340.html

but …

This is very close in time to the common ancestor of ducks and chickens, so “Wonderchicken” indeed. The missing link – between chickens and ducks.

>>Asteriornis (“Asteria’s bird”) is an extinct genus of bird from the Late Cretaceous of Belgium which is known from a single species, Asteriornis maastrichtensis. It was closely related to birds of the superorder Galloanserae such as chickens and ducks. Members of the genus were small, long-legged birds (~394 g) that lived near the coastline and co-existed with more “primitive” types of birds such as Ichthyornis. Asteriornis is one of the oldest known birds belonging to the group Neornithes, which encompasses all modern birds. It possesses characteristics of both galliformes (chicken-like birds) and anseriformes (duck-like birds), indicating its position as a close relative of the last common ancestor for both groups. <<

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