[Rockhounds] An ancestor of ducks and geese paddled and dove alongside dinosaurs in Antarctica

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

The ancestor of modern ducks, geese, and other waterfowl flew, splashed,
and dove amid dinosaurs
<https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-04153-z>—and
its lineage survived the mass extinction that ended its nonavian cousins,
scientists report today in Nature. The findings, based on an exceptionally
complete fossilized skull excavated from Antarctica, offer insights into
our feathered friends’ early days.

“[This skull] gives us a lot of information about the early evolution of
modern birds,” says paleontologist Federico Agnolín from the Bernardino
Rivadavia Natural Sciences Museum, who was not involved in the study,
adding that it’s rare to find such fossils so well-preserved. “It really is
a first-class find.”
https://www.science.org/content/article/ancestor-ducks-and-geese-paddled-and-dove-alongside-dinosaurs-antarctica