'Wonderchicken,' the Earliest Known Modern Bird (Belgium)

[Oxytropidoceras]

 

Fossil Reveals 'Wonderchicken,' the Earliest Known Modern Bird

George Dvorsky, Gizmodo, MArch 18, 2020

https://gizmodo.com/fossil-reveals-wonderchicken-the-earliest-known-modern-1842395362

 

'Wonderchicken': oldest fossil of modern bird discovered

Tiny creature, half the size of a mallard, found in rocks 

dating back to dinosaur age. The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/18/wonderchicken-oldest-fossil-of-modern-bird-discovered

 

Papers:

 

Field, D.J., Benito, J., Chen, A. et al. Late Cretaceous neornithine

from Europe illuminates the origins of crown birds. Nature 579, 

397–401 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2096-0

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2096-0

 

K. Padian. Poultry through time. Nature. Vol. 579, March 18, 2020,

p. 351. doi: d41586-020-00766-2.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00766-2

 

Twitter - Daniel J. Field - Discovery of skull while CT scanning

https://twitter.com/daniel_j_field/status/1240308990694825991

 

"Best heart attack ever."

 

Yours,

 

Paul H.

[Tidgy's Dad]

And from the BBC : 

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51925335

[The Amateur Paleontologist]

Very interesting discovery! Thanks for posting this

Here's a link to an unpaywalled (but un-downloadable, as well) copy of the paper: Asteriornis maastrichtensis paper

It's quite amazing.. all these discoveries being made in the Maastrichtian type area  

 

[ziggycardon]

Very cool discovery, can't wait to see the cast (and one day the actual fossil) of this bird in the Natural History Museum in Maastricht after this whole Corona crisis is finally over... 
Can't wait to return to the quarry where the fossil was found in the summer!