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Ancient Bird Fossils Discovered in Utah

A set of of nearly-complete bird fossils have been unearthed at the Kaiparowits Formation in Utah, and they paint quite a picture about our feathered friends’ distant ancestors. To be specific, the bones have been identified as belonging to a group of birds known as Enantiornithines. Enantiornithines existed 75 million years ago during the cretaceous period, which means they were alive when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

The enantiornithine fossil, named “Mirarce eatoni,” is one of the most complete fossils ever found in North America, as well as one of the largest birds recovered from the age of dinosaurs. Interestingly, while definitely a bird at a glance, most enantiornithine skeletons contain notable differences in the sternum and wishbone. These birds were capable of flight, but not to the extent that modern birds are. Mirarce, however, has a bone structure closer in line with modern birds, one that allows for long-term flight. Mirarce is also the first enantiornithine skeleton to have quill knobs, which modern birds use to stabilize their wing feathers. Out of the cretaceous-era birds, Mirarce might have been one of the first to take the evolutionary divergences toward the birds we know today.

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