Earth’s first waterfowl may have lived in Antarctica 69 million years ago

An ancient bird that swam in Antarctica’s balmier waters 69 million years ago may be the earliest known waterfowl on Earth, scientists say.

A newly discovered and nearly complete fossilized skull found in rocks on the Antarctic peninsula belonged to Vegavis iaai, an ancient bird previously known only from fossilized body parts and a bit of its voice box. This skull offers the best evidence yet that the enigmatic, controversial bird was closely related to modern ducks and geese, report paleontologist Christopher Torres of the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., and his colleagues in the Feb. 6 Nature.