Antarctica delivers a prehistoric secret: the origin of the first birds finally revealed

< img width = "1500" height = "1000" src = "https://www.presse-citron.net/app/uploads/2025/02/regine-tholen-tbf7nd07dfc-unsplash-1.jpg" Class = "Attachment-Full Size-Full WP-Post-Image" Alt = "Bird" loading = "" "fetchpriority =" High "Decoding =" async "srcset =" https://www.presse-citron.net/app/Uploads/2025/02/Regine-Tholen-Tbf7nd07DFC-UNSPLASH-1.JPG 1500W, https://www.presse-citron.net/upp/uploads/2025/02/regine-tholen-tbf7nd07dfc--504x336 .jpg 504W, https://www.presse-citron.net/app/uploads/2025/02/regine-tholen-tbf7nd07dfc-------uNSPLASH-1-1024x683.jpg 1024W, https://www.presse-citron.net /app/uploads/2025/02/regine-tholen-tbf7nd07dfc-unsplash-1-50x33.jpg 50w, https://www.presse-citron.net/app/uploads/2025/02/regine-tholen-tbf7nd07dfc- Unsplash-1-336x224.jpg 336W, https://www.presse-citron.net/app/uploads/2025/02/regine-tholen-tbf7nd07dfc---snsplash-1-1400x932.jpg 1400W, https: //www. press-citron.net/app/uploads/2025/02/regine-tholen-tbf7nd07dfc--680x453.jpg 680w, https://www.presse-citron.net/app/uploads/2025/02/regine -tholen-tbf7nd07dfc-Unsplash-1-896x597.jpg 896w "sizes =" (max-width: 639px) 100VW, (max-width: 1023px) Calc (100vw-2rem), (Max-Width: 1279px) Calc (100vw - 26rem), 680px "> © Regine Tholen/UNSPLASH < i class = "fa-facebook-f self-center mx-auto" > < i class = "fab fa-LinkedIn-in-Center MX-Auto" > < i class = "fa fa-envelope self-center mx-auto" > < P >Barely two months after uncovering the missing link in flying dinosaurs, c ’ is the turn of the birds to deliver their secrets to us. A fossil skull of 69 million old D ’ Discovered in Antarctic has just proved that the ancestors of modern ducks < Strong > were already present alongside dinosaurs , Before the extinction that marked the end of the Cretaceous. In reality, it was thought that modern birds, as we know them today ’ Hui, had evolved after this cataclysmic event, in a world rid of these great reptiles.

< P > c ’ is an international team of paleontologists which fell on this true treasure of L ’ Evolution < Strong > after ten long years of ’ Analysis . The results of their work were published on February 5 in the journal < EM > Nature . < H2 > A paleontological mystery of 20 years solved 60 ~ P >The discovered skull is that of#8217; a species, baptized < em > vegavis iaai, An aquatic bird and its history < Strong > s ’ is written in two acts . The first s ’ has been unrolled there are twenty of ’ years, when a team of paleontologists has unearthed a first fossil in the Antarctic rocks. < P > This specimen, dated between 68 and 66 million d ’ years, then delivered bones of the skeleton, but remained incomplete & nbsp;: the skull, centerpiece of the evolutionary puzzle, lacked at the & #8217; Call. Despite this absence, the researchers proposed to classify < em > vegavis among the direct ancestors of modern birds. This hypothesis then launched < Strong > two decades of passionate debates within the scientific community. Some scientists supported l ’ hypothesis that < EM > vegavis was indeed this ancestor, while d ’ Others remained skeptical, due to the lack of < em > true proof & nbsp;: the skull. 200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000

60 ~ P > The second act came in 2011, within the framework of the Antarctic project Peninsula Paleontology Project. Paleontologists exhmeted a new fossilized treasure: an almost intact skull of 69 million d ’ years. This discovery was < Strong > The missing link long sought , and it came to complete the portrait of < EM > vegavis IAA I . The skull included a modern beak and a brain structure similar to that of current aquatic birds.

60 ~ P > “& nbsp; < em > little d &#8217 ; birds have aroused as many debates among paleontologists as Vegavis “Said Christopher Torres, professor at L & AMP;#8217; University of the Pacific and co-author of L & AMP;#8217; Study. These new anatomical analyzes, carried out this time in the 2020s, finally make it possible to decide & nbsp;: < EM > vegavis iaai 60 ~ Strong > represents the# amp;# 8217; one of the oldest known modern birds , a winged pioneer who already foreshadowed the adaptations of our contemporary ducks and birds. < IMG DECODING = "Async" class = "size-dull wp-image-646838" src = "https://www.presse-citron.net/app/uploads/2025/02/vegavis_restoration.jpg" Alt = "Vegavis" width = "1920" height = "1441" srcset = "https://www.presse-citron.net/app/uploads/2025/02/vegavis_restoration.jpg 1920w, https: //www.pres-citron .NET/APP/Uploads/2025/02/Vegavis_Restoration-448x336.jpg 448W, https://www.presse-citron.net/app/uploads/2025/02/vegavis_restoration-1024x769.jpg 1024W, https: //www .presse-citron.net/app/uploads/2025/02/vegavis_restoration-50x38.jpg 50w, https://www.presse-citron.net/upp/uploads/2025/02/vegavis_restoration-680x510.jpg 680W, https : //www.presse-citron.net/app/uploads/2025/02/vegavis_restoration-896x672.jpg 896W, https://www.presse-citron.net/app/uploads/2025/02/02/vegavis_restoration-1792x1345. JPG 1792W "Sizes =" (max -width: 1023px) Calc (100VW - 2REM), (max -width: 1279px) Calc (100vw - 26rem), 680px " /> Artistic representation of ’ ~ EM > vegavis iaai . © El Fosilmaníaco/Wikipedia < H2 > a forgotten southern paradise 60 ~ P >There are 69 million D & AMP;#8217; years, the Antarctic was unrecognizable. Far from the icy expanses that ’ he is known today ’ a temperate climate bathed these southern lands where S & Amp;#8217; fulfilled lush vegetation. Coastal waters, lukewarm and full of life, < Strong > sheltered an abundant ecosystem : reptiles (mosasauridae, plesiosaures), primitive mammals, crustaceans, insects and molluscs of all kinds. 60 ~ P > In this territory, < EM > vegavis iaai < Strong > was an outstanding hunter < /Strong >. Its legs, powerful and webbed, allowed it to split the waves with agility and its beak, devoid of the characteristic teeth of primitive birds, concealed robust jaws perfectly suited to the capture of fish. 60 ~ P > When ~ 8217; we replace < EM > vegavis iaai In the global context of the#8217; avian evolution, it is even more confusing. While some fossils of the same era discovered in Madagascar and Argentina were those of#8217; Birds with ancestral features – Equipped with sharp teeth recalling their reptilian heritage and long vestigal bone tails – < Strong > l ’ Antarctic already housed surprisingly modern creatures . < P > An immense geographic disparity, which leaves us even more on our hunger, < Strong > because it poses a new enigma . How to explain that the ancurrent waters have hosted birds with such advanced characteristics, while their cousins, thousands of kilometers away, retained primitive features & nbsp; ? < P > The special conditions of this southern ecosystem-the richness of marine resources, the mild water temperature, the amp;#8217; abundance of available ecological niches-have they < Strong >Catalyst L & Amp;#8217; Early emergence of modern traits & nbsp; ? Patrick o ’ Connor, professor at the ’ Ohio University, evokes this singularity: “& amp ; nbsp; < em > what happened in the borders of the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica, seems to have followed a very different trajectory & nbsp; ”. The transition to modern birds took place much earlier than ’ we thought it & nbsp;: U < Strong > NE small temporal difference of three million d ’ approximately < 60 < 60 < /Strong >, ie L & AMP;#8217; equivalent of ’ a beating from eyelash to L & AMP;#8217; scale of L & AMP;#8217; Evolution of our beautiful planet. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ < UL class = "TLDR" > < li > The fossil skull of < EM > vegavis iaai , Discovered in Antarctic, proves that modern birds live Already alongside dinosaurs 69 million years ago.

< li >This discovery puts an end to 20 years of debates by confirming that < EM > vegavis iaai is indeed an ancestor of the current ducks and birds diving.

< Li > Unlike the primitive species found elsewhere, < EM > vegavis iaai already had a modern beak and advanced anatomical adaptations, suggesting an earlier evolution of birds in the South hemisphere. 60 ~ Blockquote > 60 ~ P Class = “Text-Base text-neutral-700 DARK: Text-Neutral-300” > 📍 To not miss any Citron press, follow us on Google News and Whatsapp.

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