Vegavis is a genus of extinct bird that lived in Antarctica during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous. The type and only species is Vegavis iaai, representing one of the earliest known crown group birds. Initially described as member of Anseriformes within Galloanserae, the definitive taxonomic position of Vegavis was debated among paleontologists over two decades …

1 day ago · The fossilized skull of a bird called Vegavis, which lived in the Antarctic some 68.7 million years ago, confirms it was an early member of the waterfowl group. However, the skull also suggests ...

1 day ago · An Antarctic discovery might offer new insights into the origins of modern birds. The skull, from an ancient relative of ducks and geese known as Vegavis iaai, suggests that the key characteristics of modern birds were already in place 69 million years ago. Birds evolved from dinosaurs millions of ...

2 days ago · Vegavis’ long beak and brain shape place it in the group that includes all modern birds and represents the earliest evidence of birds’ eventual widespread distribution across the planet.

1 day ago · Vegavis iaai, shown in this artist’s illustration, was an ancient ancestor of ducks adapted to dive underwater and hunt for fish. Mark Witton

1 day ago · A near-perfect fossilized skull discovered in Antarctica reveals the bridge between prehistoric and modern birds, a new study has found. The fossil is a specimen of a species called Vegavis iaai, which lived around 69 million years ago – more than 2 million years before the mass extinction that ...

1 day ago · A life reconstruction of Vegavis iaai, a late Cretaceous loon-size bird diving for fish in the shallow ocean off the coast of the Antarctic peninsula, with ammonites and plesiosaurs for company.

1 day ago · A new and nearly complete skull of Vegavis iaai discovered in Antarctica suggests that modern birds originated before the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.

1 day ago · New fossil unearthed of ancient bird named Vegavis iaai dates to about 69 million years ago.

1 day ago · A newly discovered and nearly complete fossilized skull found in rocks on the Antarctic peninsula belonged to Vegavis iaai, an ancient bird previously known only from fossilized body parts and a ...