The nearly complete skull of Vegavis iaai, a duck-sized bird that lived 69 million years ago, reveals that modern birds — those with toothless beaks and specialized brains — were already ...

In 1992, the first Vegavis iaai fossil was discovered on Vega ... but it has not positively identified the species as an ancestor of ducks and geese. While analysis of V. iaai is ongoing ...

"Few birds are as likely to start as many arguments among paleontologists as 'vegavis,'" said professor Christopher Torres.

The skull is from Vegavis iaai, an extinct duck-like bird that lived during the Late Cretaceous, just before non-avian dinosaurs went extinct. It’s one of very few 3D bird skulls known to ...

A newly studied Vegavis iaai skull from Antarctica confirms that modern bird lineages, like ducks and geese, were evolving alongside non-avian dinosaurs. This study supports Vegavis' placement in the ...

While Vegavis has features that clearly mark it as being in the same group of waterfowl as ducks and geese, it would have looked very different, says O’Connor. The bird’s beak shape ...

A recent study found a nearly complete skull in Antarctica that may belong to an ancient ancestor of ducks and geese called Vegavis iaai. This species lived around 68 million years ago ...

An artist’s interpretation of Vegavis iaai diving for fish in the shallow ocean off the coast of the Antarctic peninsula, with ammonites and plesiosaurs for company. Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert!

The new skull helps settle that debate, according to researchers. Its structure, including the shape of the brain and beak, suggests Vegavis belonged to the group that includes modern ducks and geese.

The early relatives of ducks and geese lived in Antarctica at ... belongs to an extinct bird named Vegavis iaai and was collected during a 2011 expedition by the Antarctic Peninsula Palaeontology ...

Vegavis iaai lived in Antarctica approximately ... an incubator for the earliest members of the group that now includes ducks and geese, providing a refuge for some species. The article was ...