Antarctica is often called the " In a new study, scientists have discovered an ancient skull on the ice continent with an age of 69 million years, which is believed to belongs to the most ancient famous modern bird, writes Independent.

According to the co -author of the study, professor at the University of OGIO and the director of the Department of Sciences and Cosmos at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Dr. Patrick O'Connor, the fossil found belongs to the early relative of the ducks and geese of the continent. Scientists suggest that this ancient bird lived off the coast of Antarctica in Cretaceous, at about the same time as the famous Tyrannosaurus Rex.

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The authors of the study also believe that their find can tell a lot about the earliest stages of the evolution of modern birds. Note that the skull was found back in 2011 as part of the Paleontology project of the Antarctic Peninsula, but the results of the study were published only the other day.

According to another co -author of the study, Dr. Matthew Lamann from the Pittsburgh Museum of the Natural History of Kargnegi, Dr. Matthew Lamann, at the moment he and the team are focused on how the region has helped to form modern ecosystems. Moreover, the authors of the study believe that Antarctica in many respects is a kind of line for understanding human life in the era of dinosaurs.

The skull found by scientists is long with a pointed beak and brain shape, which is unique among all famous birds, previously discovered by scientists in the Mesozoic era. It is assumed that the remains belong to the extinct bird called Vegavis IAAI. Moreover, and place it in a group that includes all modern birds.

It is known that Vegavis IAAI was first described two decades ago by the co -author of the University of Texas at Austin Dr. Julia Clark. Some experts also read that this species is an early representative of modern waterfowl, such as ducks and geese. But such birds were extremely rare before extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period, and this study is the first with an almost complete skull.

According to the leading author of the study, a scientific employee of the National Scientific Fund at the College of Osteopathic Medicine at the University of Ohio, Dr. Christopher Torres, few in the history of the Earth can be so likely to cause so many controversy among paleontologists. The skull found in Antarctica has retained powerful muscles, unlike modern waterfowl, and its features correspond to prompts, suggesting that Vegavis used his feet to move under water.

The authors of the study also believe that this new fossil will help to resolve many of these disputes, the main of which is where exactly on the bird tree of life is Vegavis.

Previously, Focus wrote about when Antarctica was covered with tropical forests and dinosaurs roamed.