Scientists discover one of the world's oldest bird species in Waipara, New Zealand

The ancestor of some of the largest flying birds of all time was found in Waipara, in the north of Canterbury.

Birds with bone teeth (Pélagornithidés), an ancient family of huge seabirds, would have evolved in the northern hemisphere – but this theory was reversed by the discovery of the oldest, but the smallest member of the family in New Zealand.

At 62 million years old, the new discovery Protodontopteryx ruthae, is one of the oldest bird species in the world. He lived in New Zealand shortly after the disappearance of the dinosaurs.

Although his descendants are among the largest flying birds of all time, with a wingspan of more than 5 meters, Protodontopteryx ruthae was only the size of an average gull. Like other members of her family, the seabird had bone projections resembling teeth on the edge of its beak.

The marine bird fossil has been identified by the same team that recently announced the discovery of a giant penguin 1.6 meters in height from the same site.

The paleontologist Leigh Love discovered last year the partial skeleton of Protodontopteryx on the Waipara Greensand fossil site. The bird has been named Protodontopteryx ruthae after the wife of Ruth's love. Love wanted to thank her for tolerating her decades-long passion for paleontology.

Another amateur, Alan Mannering, prepared the bones and a team composed of the curators of Love, Mannering, Canterbury, Dr. Paul Scofield and Dr. Vanesa De Pietri and Dr. Gerald Mayr of the Senckenberg Research Institute and Museum of Art. natural history of Frankfurt, Germany, described Protodontopteryx.

According to Dr. Scofield, the age of fossilized bones suggests that pelagornithids have evolved in the southern hemisphere. "Although this bird is relatively small, the impact of its discovery is extremely important for our understanding of this family, and until we found this skeleton, all the very old pelagornithids were found in the family." "Northern hemisphere, so everyone thought that they had evolved there."

"New Zealand was a very different place when Protodontoperyx were in heaven. There was a tropical climate – the sea temperature was about 25 degrees, so we had corals and giant turtles, "he adds.

Dr. Mayr said that the discovery of Protodontopteryx was "really surprising and unexpected." Not only is the fossil one of the most complete specimens of a pseudo-golden bird, but it also presents a number of unexpected skeletal features that contribute to a better understanding of the evolution of these enigmatic birds. "

The pelagornithid species then evolved to the oceans, some reaching up to 6.4 meters on the wings.

The skeleton of Protodontopteryx suggests that it was less suitable for long-distance flights than the newer pelagornithids and that it probably covered much shorter distances. His short and wide pseudoteeth was probably designed for catching fish. Subsequent species had a needle-like pseudoteeth that was probably used to catch soft-bodied prey such as a squid.

Dr. De Pietri said "because Protodontopteryx was less suitable for gliding than other known pelagornithids, we can now say that pseudoteeth evolved before these birds became highly specialized gliders."

The last species of pelagornithids was extinct about 2.5 million years ago, just before modern humans developed.

The Waipara Greensand site where the Protodontopteryx skeleton has been found has resulted in several important scientific discoveries in recent years, including ancient penguins and the world's oldest tropical fossil fossil.

Some of these discoveries, including the Protodontopteryx fossil, will be exhibited in an exhibition on ancient New Zealand at the Museum later this year.

This research was funded by the Marsden Fund of the Royal Society of New Zealand and is published today in the journal Papers in paleontology.