They find the skeleton of a new species of bird that lived in Antarctica

The evolution never stops. And the proof is the appearance of new species of animals that complement a little more knowledge of the evolution of life on Earth.

Another example is the recent discovery by researchers at the Argentine Antarctic Institute (IAA) during the last project realized with the participation of the national universities of Córdoba and La Plata and CONICET, in which to know the discovery of fossil remains. a new genus and a new bird species of about 65 million years (tertiary period) on Marambio Island, north-east of the Antarctic Peninsula.

The discovery, published in a prestigious international scientific journal, was carried out during the 2007 campaign as part of a project coordinated by the Argentine Antarctic Institute. After years of preparation and study, The bird found was badigned to a group (Anseriformes) similar to the current ducks, geese and swans. The fossil remains are a skeleton with almost all the bones found. It is the most complete record of bird in Antarctica.

It would be a flying bird, with elongated legs, who lived in an ecosystem of temperate forests. The discovery allows us to badume that the typical peak form of the current ducks would have appeared early in the evolution of this group of birds.

It has been named "Conflicto antarcticus" because of its contradictory systematic position, since its characteristics are different from those of other known birds. His discovery represents a fossil record of a non-marine bird that is very important to the southern hemisphere and the hypothesis developed in the work based on this discovery could form the basis of new theories about the world. evolution of modern birds.

In addition, as part of a research project also led by the Argentine Antarctic Institute, in collaboration with researchers from the Museum of La Plata (National University of La Plata) and CONICET, an important paleontological discovery was carried out on the island of Marambio (Argentine Antarctic). ): the first skull of a fossil penguin of Antarctica with its complete peak. This discovery will make significant progress in the evolutionary studies of these birds which are now distributed exclusively in the southern seas.

Penguins inhabit Marambio Island and its surroundings for at least 60 million years. Since then, they have diversified successfully and have reached sizes ranging from 40 centimeters to over 2 meters in height. The skull, extracted just a few days ago, belongs to one of the largest species of penguins.

This new place in which work is being done is very promising because it is an unexplored area from which terrestrial herbivorous mammals inhabited South America there are 40 million years ago, in an area comparable to present-day Andean forests. Patagonien

The project is led by Mr. Marcelo Reguero (Argentine Antarctic Institute) and the field working group is composed of MM. Javier N. Gelfo, Nicolás Bauzá and Carolina Acosta Hospitaleche (La Plata Museum, UNLP – CONICET).