An international team of researchers led by Ohio University (OU) Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine Professor Patrick O’Connor announced the discovery of a Late Cretaceous crow-sized stem bird from Madagascar with a long and deep beak morphology that was previously unknown among Mesozoic birds and is superficially similar to modern birds, like toucans.

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A reconstruction of the new bird named Falcatakely highlights evolutionary changes in face and beak shape. To unravel the anatomy of the stem bird, researchers used high-resolution microcomputed tomography (microCT) and extensive digital modeling to virtually dissect individual bones from the rock it is embedded in, as well as enlarged 3D printing of the digital models to reconstruct the skull and compare it with other species. Found in northwestern Madagascar, the specimen, which belongs to an extinct group of birds called Enantiornithines, survived more than 66 million years, meaning it dates from the end of the Cretaceous period. Described in a new paper published in the journal Nature , the finding is essential for refining hypotheses that relate to the morphological evolution and diversification of early birds, which according to the authors remains relatively incomplete owing to a paucity of new fossil discoveries. Falcatakely Very few […]

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