March 22, 2025
Exceptional Fossil Discovery May Offer Evidence of the Oldest Known Modern Bird
At the end of the Cretaceous Period 66 million years ago, a city-sized asteroid collided with the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico. Known as the Chicxulub impactor, it doomed nearly all dinosaurs to extinction—except, scientists now believe, for birds. An exceptional fossil recently discovered in Antarctica may prove to be the oldest known modern bird, providing critical insight into the evolutionary lineages of avian species.
