Get to Know the Ancient Birds That Lived During the Age of Dinosaurs

These days, it’s frequent data that birds live dinosaurs. Victorian naturalists proposed the notion after recognizing similarities between dinosaur fossils and up to date chook skeletons. However the idea was controversial till the Nineteen Nineties, when hundreds of feathered dinosaur fossils have been found. Now, it’s broadly accepted that greater than 150 million years in the past, some vicious Velociraptor cousins shrank in dimension, sprouted easy hair-like strands, elaborated that plumage into wings of quill pens, and took to the skies. When the asteroid affect worn out the canonical dinosaurs, some early avians survived and carried on their lineages. Each chook alive as we speak is the direct descendant of extinct big reptiles.

But one side of this story is just not typically appreciated. For nearly 100 million years birds lived alongside their dinosaur cousins. By the tip of the Cretaceous interval, 66 million years in the past, a outstanding array of birds thrived, gliding above Tyrannosaurus rex and foraging amongst Triceratops. At the moment, paleontologists are studying far more about these pioneering species and the way fashionable birds arose. New fossil finds are illuminating an aviary of divers and soarers, seabirds and landbirds—portray an unprecedented image of what it might be wish to go birding within the Age of Dinosaurs. 

The First Hen: Archaeopteryx

With its sharp tooth, fierce claws, and lengthy, bony tail, the oldest and most primitive chook within the fossil file seemed like a miniature Velociraptor—till the corvid-size creature unfurled its broad wings. Archaeopteryx’s pitch-black feathers with pliable shafts fluttered within the breeze because it bounded between shrubs and bushes. 

Habitat

Archaeopteryx lived in what’s now Europe on the finish of the Jurassic interval, when international temperatures have been hotter and sea ranges larger. The area had a subtropical local weather and was lined by lagoons and shallow seas, dotted with many islands. All 14 fossils of the species have been present in Germany.

Habits

Whereas Archaeopteryx spent a lot of its time on the bottom, it might fly. It had broad wings on its arms made up of asymmetrical feathers, which have been narrower and extra inflexible on their forefront. This aerodynamic construction represents an indicator of flapping flight (and a step up from the straightforward feathers some “raptor” dinosaurs sported for heat or show). Plus, the species had additional winglike constructions on its legs and tail to supply further thrust, carry, and maneuverability. Whereas it lacked the massive chest muscle groups that energy the wings of modern-day birds, it might make brief flights from island to island, the place it stalked bugs and different small prey.

Significance

The handful of Archaeopteryx fossils are among the many biggest paleontological treasures as a result of they seize the transition from non-avian dinosaurs to birds in motion, like a freeze body. If Archaeopteryx have been identified solely from its bones it might doubtless have been categorized as a Velociraptor-type dinosaur. However the discovery of Archaeopteryx’s fossilized feathery wings confirmed it was a correct chook, constructed for flight. 

Trendy Match

At about 20 inches lengthy, with black plumage and a flamboyant tail, Archaeopteryx brings to thoughts the brash Black-billed Magpie.

The Reverse Hen: Longipteryx

Sporting a protracted pincer-like beak studded with pointy tooth, Longipteryx had the mugshot of a mischievous trickster. However at solely six inches lengthy, this chook was no menace. Its broad wings and lengthy tail feathers enabled it to fly with larger grace and stamina than extra primitive birds like Archaeopteryx.

Habitat

Among the many first perching birds in Earth’s historical past, Longipteryx was at residence within the timber and mastered a brand new atmosphere that birds haven’t left since: the forests. Whereas earlier birds have been principally landbound, Longipteryx and its shut kin had toes that would grip branches tightly. The luxurious forests of Northeast China that these canopy-dwellers inhabited 120 million years in the past have been sweltering scorching in the summertime however chilly within the winter, when flurries of snow would sprinkle this chook’s feathers with a cottony gloss. 

Habits

You may’t at all times choose a chook by its invoice. With lengthy jaws that would snap shut and gnarly tooth, one would possibly assume Longipteryx dined on meat or fish. But the invention of a fossil with its final meal preserved inside its abdomen confirmed that these arboreal aerialists ate seeds and the fruit-like constructions of evergreen timber. As for the tooth, paleontologists posit that they could have allowed Longipteryx to make use of its beak as a weapon, just like modern-day hummingbirds. 

Significance

Longipteryx was a member of the enantiornithines, the dominant birds through the Cretaceous interval. These have been the “reverse birds,” named for a skeletal quirk: The form of their shoulder bones was the reverse of up to date birds. All of those historical, ample birds died out after the asteroid hit Earth on the finish of the Cretaceous. Their slower progress charges as in comparison with different birds, and the destruction of their forest houses by fires after the asteroid, could have spelled their doom. However don’t write off these birds as a footnote of prehistory. Enantiornithines thrived throughout a lot of the world for no less than 70 million years and seized new niches that might later develop into essential for contemporary birds’ survival—just like the treetops conquered by Longipteryx.

Trendy Match

The silhouette of Longipteryx, with its compact physique and elongated cranium, is paying homage to a Widespread Kingfisher. 

The Squawking Seabird: Ichthyornis

Think about a gull with tooth, and that’s Ichthyornis. Noisy, aggressive, and feisty, these seabirds bickered over meals and mates and traveled in dense flocks over open water.  

Habitat

In the course of the last 20 million years of the Cretaceous, an enormous inland sea lined a lot of North America. Ichthyornis swarmed the shorelines and soared over the water, leaving numerous fossils throughout a large swath of the continent, from Alberta south to Kansas and east to Alabama. 

Habits

Ichthyornis was among the many strongest fliers of its time. Its wings have been bigger than these of its contemporaries, together with the “reverse chook” enantiornithines, and it had an enormous breastbone with a central keel to anchor monumental wing-flapping muscle groups. It had tooth lining the central elements of its lengthy jaws, and capping its mouth was a brief, sharp keratin beak, which it used to seize fish whereas flying over the ocean and snag insect prey close to the coast. These social creatures weren’t shy about making an attempt to steal different Ichthyornis’s meals—or competing for his or her mates. 

Significance

An ornithuromorph, Ichthyornis is a member of the road that features residing birds and their closest fossil family. Its massive wings and flight muscle groups have been almost equivalent to these of as we speak’s birds, and its mind was massive, like in fashionable avians. But, its elongated, toothed jaw and partial beak have been holdovers from earlier chook ancestors. (No birds today have tooth.) Simply as Archaeopteryx was an middleman between meat-eating dinosaurs and birds, Ichthyornis represents an middleman between primitive birds and up to date ones. 

Trendy Match

If we noticed Ichthyornis, maybe eyeing our ice cream or French fries as we sunbathed on the seaside, we would mistake it for an American Herring Gull. 

The Cretaceous Oddball: Mirarce

At two toes tall, Mirarce was an enormous chook for its time. A cumbersome creature with sturdy and meaty wings, it strutted throughout the bottom amid brutish dinosaurs—assured it might take to the skies if hazard arose. 

Habitat

The one identified fossils have been found in Utah, the place Mirarce lived about 75 million years in the past in a scorching and humid jungle dominated by many species of meat-eating, horned, and duck-billed dinosaurs. Again then, this a part of North America was on the fringes of the still-forming Rocky Mountains, crisscrossed by ferocious rivers draining the peaks. 

Habits

Mirarce was a jack-of-all-trades. Its sturdy legs allowed it to navigate brush and dirt because it hunted for small birds and reptiles to grab with its substantial claws. On the similar time, it was made for flight: Its wings have been massive sufficient to supply the carry and thrust essential to take to the skies with ease, and its shortened tail sported aerodynamic feathers for turning and braking. This hybrid way of life got here in useful for escaping the jaws of the massive tyrannosaurs it lived alongside.

Significance

Mirarce is an avisaurid, a subgroup of the extinct enantiornithines that was prevalent in North and South America through the last few million years of the Cretaceous. The chook’s massive dimension—greater than some members of the Velociraptor clan—proves that not all avians residing with the basic dinosaurs have been small creatures that sought cowl. Its uncommon construct additionally illustrates that lengthy earlier than fashionable birds diversified into ostriches, peacocks, and hummingbirds, enantiornithines within the Cretaceous have been doing comparable issues, creating a variety of diversifications and filling quite a few ecological niches. 

Trendy Match

With its stocky stature and the best way it hopscotched between the bottom and the air, Mirarce would possibly give the impression of a Wild Turkey.

The Unique Waterfowl: Vegavis

This historical avian took to the water just like the shut duck relative that it’s. Vegavis was a fast-flying honker that spent a lot of its time wading and swimming, sometimes leaping skyward and pirouetting by means of the air in sleek shows.

Habitat

Paleontologists have discovered all Vegavis fossils in Antarctica whereas working in a number of the most inhospitable circumstances on Earth. On the finish of the Cretaceous, when Vegavis was paddling round, the area was forested, with a temperate local weather. Skinny layers of ice doubtless fashioned within the winter, spurring the birds to seek out areas of open water the place they may dive, propelled by their toes, to snap up fish of their lengthy, pointed, toothless invoice. The birds lived alongside the shore, taking cowl in inland areas through the coldest and darkest months.

Habits

Vegavis lived quick and loud. Its bones had no progress strains, indicating {that a} hatchling reached maturity inside one yr at most, like many fashionable birds. It had an enormous mind and eager senses. It might additionally vocalize. One outstanding fossilized Vegavis skeleton had remnants of a syrinx, or voice field—a smooth tissue construction that isn’t sometimes preserved. Related in dimension and form to these of modern-day aquatic birds like geese, the organ revealed that Vegavis was in all probability a quacker and a honker. It might have used these calls to warn of hazard, woo mates, or defend territory.

Significance

Vegavis is without doubt one of the oldest identified fashionable birds and truly a member of the identical subgroup that features as we speak’s geese, geese, and chickens. Though Vegavis itself didn’t endure the asteroid affect, some of its close relatives did. These survivors have been the ancestors of as we speak’s waterfowl. Why have been these birds in a position to persist when so many others died? They have been small (no less than in comparison with T. rex and Triceratops), grew shortly, and their sturdy flying and diving skills would have allowed them to flee quick hazard and take refuge as wildfires raged, forests burned, and earthquakes and volcanoes went into overdrive. Although Vegavis blinked out way back, it presents clues in regards to the elements that allowed choose birds to emerge from the Cretaceous and evolve into the ten,000-plus species alive as we speak. 

Trendy Match

Widespread Merganser, or actually any duck. Vegavis seemed like a duck, grew like a duck, swam and dove like a duck, and quacked like a duck, in spite of everything. 

This story initially ran within the Winter 2025 concern as “Birding within the Age of Dinosaurs.” To obtain our print journal, develop into a member by making a donation today.