He made a prehistoric duck :-) (Vegavis iaai)
July 12, 2025 at 4:28 PM
He made a prehistoric duck :-) (Vegavis iaai)
October 3, 2026 at 3:19 AM
Vanhin tunnettu äänielin syrinx on Vegavis iiain, linnun, joka eli juuri ennen liitukauden päättänyttä joukkosukupuuttoa.
Vegavis iaai saikin äänen edellisessä suosikkidinosaurusäänestyksessä:
bsky.app/profile/kaia...
Vegavis iaai saikin äänen edellisessä suosikkidinosaurusäänestyksessä:
bsky.app/profile/kaia...
Näiden ansiosta tiedämme, että hyvin mahdollisesti dinosaurukset tappanutta meteoriittia kommentoitiin tuoreeltaan "kvaak".
October 3, 2026 at 9:43 AM
Vanhin tunnettu äänielin syrinx on Vegavis iiain, linnun, joka eli juuri ennen liitukauden päättänyttä joukkosukupuuttoa.
Vegavis iaai saikin äänen edellisessä suosikkidinosaurusäänestyksessä:
bsky.app/profile/kaia...
Vegavis iaai saikin äänen edellisessä suosikkidinosaurusäänestyksessä:
bsky.app/profile/kaia...
happy #fossilfriday! bonus: this is vegavis, a basal member of the waterfowl clade – the anseriformes – from late cretaceous antarctica. the structure of its vocal organ indicates that vegavis could honk like modern waterfowl and some other neognaths
(art by mark witton)
(art by mark witton)
April 18, 2025 at 3:22 PM
happy #fossilfriday! bonus: this is vegavis, a basal member of the waterfowl clade – the anseriformes – from late cretaceous antarctica. the structure of its vocal organ indicates that vegavis could honk like modern waterfowl and some other neognaths
(art by mark witton)
(art by mark witton)
New vegaviids Vegavis geitononesos and Vegavis notopothousa (the latter based on the skull described last year): www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/18... 🪶🧪 (📷Irazoqui et al.)
January 30, 2026 at 4:20 PM
New vegaviids Vegavis geitononesos and Vegavis notopothousa (the latter based on the skull described last year): www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/18... 🪶🧪 (📷Irazoqui et al.)
Here's the art I did for the new SciAm article on why birds were the only dinosaurs to survive the K-Pg event! Read it here www.scientificamerican.com/article/an-a... 🪶🎨🐡
April 15, 2026 at 8:38 PM
Here's the art I did for the new SciAm article on why birds were the only dinosaurs to survive the K-Pg event! Read it here www.scientificamerican.com/article/an-a... 🪶🎨🐡
Number 20 finished: Cretaceous bird Vegavis dives after an Enchodus fish, while Mosasaurus hoffmani lurks in the background and a pair of elasmosaurs swim by.
Copic Marker and colored pencil on Fabriano paper
13.8" x 9.8" (35 x 25 cm)
#SciArt #paleoart #birddrawing #prehistoricbirds #herperornis
Copic Marker and colored pencil on Fabriano paper
13.8" x 9.8" (35 x 25 cm)
#SciArt #paleoart #birddrawing #prehistoricbirds #herperornis
August 11, 2026 at 12:53 PM
Number 20 finished: Cretaceous bird Vegavis dives after an Enchodus fish, while Mosasaurus hoffmani lurks in the background and a pair of elasmosaurs swim by.
Copic Marker and colored pencil on Fabriano paper
13.8" x 9.8" (35 x 25 cm)
#SciArt #paleoart #birddrawing #prehistoricbirds #herperornis
Copic Marker and colored pencil on Fabriano paper
13.8" x 9.8" (35 x 25 cm)
#SciArt #paleoart #birddrawing #prehistoricbirds #herperornis
So the other day I was chattin w @convictclaude.bsky.social about Vegavis and basically had to do this paleo waterfowl just being a menace to this megaraptoran. HONK!
April 19, 2025 at 5:58 PM
So the other day I was chattin w @convictclaude.bsky.social about Vegavis and basically had to do this paleo waterfowl just being a menace to this megaraptoran. HONK!
May 7, 2026 at 4:08 PM
Did you know Antarctica used to be full of dinosaurs and other animals?
It's true! One of its inhabitants was Vegavis - a 69-million-year-old fossil which new research suggests could be the oldest known modern bird!
Find out about this ancient avian 👇
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...
It's true! One of its inhabitants was Vegavis - a 69-million-year-old fossil which new research suggests could be the oldest known modern bird!
Find out about this ancient avian 👇
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...
Ancient bird skull from Antarctica might be from early duck relative | Natural History Museum
Vegavis iaai might offer new insights into the origins of modern birds.
www.nhm.ac.uk
February 6, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Did you know Antarctica used to be full of dinosaurs and other animals?
It's true! One of its inhabitants was Vegavis - a 69-million-year-old fossil which new research suggests could be the oldest known modern bird!
Find out about this ancient avian 👇
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...
It's true! One of its inhabitants was Vegavis - a 69-million-year-old fossil which new research suggests could be the oldest known modern bird!
Find out about this ancient avian 👇
www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/new...
At last, we now know what the skull of Vegavis looks like! www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🪶🧪 (📷Torres et al.)
February 5, 2025 at 4:11 PM
At last, we now know what the skull of Vegavis looks like! www.nature.com/articles/s41... 🪶🧪 (📷Torres et al.)
May 8, 2026 at 3:33 PM
May 8, 2026 at 3:35 PM
I can think of at least four: in addition to Vegavis and Presbyornis pictured above, syringeal elements are also known from Conflicto and Llallawavis.
July 13, 2025 at 3:50 AM
I can think of at least four: in addition to Vegavis and Presbyornis pictured above, syringeal elements are also known from Conflicto and Llallawavis.
New Species of Vegavis (Neornithes) from Antarctica Highlights Unexpected Cretaceous Antarctic Diversity www.mdpi.com/3705496
www.mdpi.com
January 31, 2026 at 2:15 AM
New Species of Vegavis (Neornithes) from Antarctica Highlights Unexpected Cretaceous Antarctic Diversity www.mdpi.com/3705496
I had a blast working on this with Pat O'Connor and Chris Torres, and we dug (or dived?) deep into the idea that Vegavis was a grebe- or loon-like diver, a finding suggested by the new skull material.
February 6, 2025 at 10:48 AM
I had a blast working on this with Pat O'Connor and Chris Torres, and we dug (or dived?) deep into the idea that Vegavis was a grebe- or loon-like diver, a finding suggested by the new skull material.
🔬Fóssil descoberto na Antártica confirmou que a espécie Vegavis iaai é uma ave moderna e pertencente à mesma ordem dos patos e gansos!
Viveu há ~69 milhões de anos.
Aves modernas conviveram com Tiranossauros e sobreviveram à extinção em massa no Cretáceo! 👇🏼
🎨: Mark Wilton, 2025
Viveu há ~69 milhões de anos.
Aves modernas conviveram com Tiranossauros e sobreviveram à extinção em massa no Cretáceo! 👇🏼
🎨: Mark Wilton, 2025
February 8, 2025 at 5:59 PM
🔬Fóssil descoberto na Antártica confirmou que a espécie Vegavis iaai é uma ave moderna e pertencente à mesma ordem dos patos e gansos!
Viveu há ~69 milhões de anos.
Aves modernas conviveram com Tiranossauros e sobreviveram à extinção em massa no Cretáceo! 👇🏼
🎨: Mark Wilton, 2025
Viveu há ~69 milhões de anos.
Aves modernas conviveram com Tiranossauros e sobreviveram à extinção em massa no Cretáceo! 👇🏼
🎨: Mark Wilton, 2025
An Antarctic discovery might offer new insights into the origins of modern birds.
The skull, from an ancient relative of ducks and geese known as Vegavis iaai, suggests that the key characteristics of modern birds were already in place 69 million years ago.
#paleosky
The skull, from an ancient relative of ducks and geese known as Vegavis iaai, suggests that the key characteristics of modern birds were already in place 69 million years ago.
#paleosky
Ancient bird skull from Antarctica might be from early duck relative | Natural History Museum
Vegavis iaai might offer new insights into the origins of modern birds.
www.nhm.ac.uk
February 8, 2025 at 5:58 AM
An Antarctic discovery might offer new insights into the origins of modern birds.
The skull, from an ancient relative of ducks and geese known as Vegavis iaai, suggests that the key characteristics of modern birds were already in place 69 million years ago.
#paleosky
The skull, from an ancient relative of ducks and geese known as Vegavis iaai, suggests that the key characteristics of modern birds were already in place 69 million years ago.
#paleosky
"Paleontologists... discovered&described a new, nearly complete skull of Vegavis iaai, a foot-propelled diver bird species that lived in Antarctica during the latest Cretaceous, between 69.2 & 68.4 million years ago...
Vegavis iaai was first discovered 2 decades ago..."
www.sci.news/paleontology...
Vegavis iaai was first discovered 2 decades ago..."
www.sci.news/paleontology...
Earliest-Known Waterfowl Lived in Antarctica 69 Million Years Ago | Sci.News
Paleontologists have discovered and described a new, nearly complete skull of Vegavis iaai, a foot-propelled diver bird species that lived in Antarctica during the latest Cretaceous, between 69.2 and ...
www.sci.news
February 7, 2025 at 9:47 PM
"Paleontologists... discovered&described a new, nearly complete skull of Vegavis iaai, a foot-propelled diver bird species that lived in Antarctica during the latest Cretaceous, between 69.2 & 68.4 million years ago...
Vegavis iaai was first discovered 2 decades ago..."
www.sci.news/paleontology...
Vegavis iaai was first discovered 2 decades ago..."
www.sci.news/paleontology...
For Pengornis, I used Scott Hartman's Cathayornis skeletal to map out the build and got the bone sizes from the P. houi holotype. Bone shapes were from there and various other papers. Vegavis was a lot simpler, as I could reference the 2025 Torres et al paper skeletal (and other materials).
April 15, 2026 at 8:38 PM
For Pengornis, I used Scott Hartman's Cathayornis skeletal to map out the build and got the bone sizes from the P. houi holotype. Bone shapes were from there and various other papers. Vegavis was a lot simpler, as I could reference the 2025 Torres et al paper skeletal (and other materials).
Oh yeah that's the Vegavis right?
June 3, 2025 at 2:36 AM
Oh yeah that's the Vegavis right?
The syrinx itself can fossilize, and has done so in Vegavis and Presbyornis, but we haven't found any outside of Neornithes. However, ossification of the syrinx is highly variable in palaeognaths, and it doesn't look like any have a completely ossified syrinx. This implies...
July 11, 2025 at 6:07 PM
The syrinx itself can fossilize, and has done so in Vegavis and Presbyornis, but we haven't found any outside of Neornithes. However, ossification of the syrinx is highly variable in palaeognaths, and it doesn't look like any have a completely ossified syrinx. This implies...
20 years later, Vegavis is still a duck ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Torres, C.R., Clarke, J.A., Groenke, J.R. et al. Cretaceous Antarctic bird skull elucidates early avian ecological diversity. Nature 638, 146–151 (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Cretaceous Antarctic bird skull elucidates early avian ecological diversity - Nature
A new, nearly complete fossil skull of Vegavis from the James Ross Basin, Antarctic Peninsula, provides insight into its feeding ecology and exhibits morphologies that support placement amon...
doi.org
February 5, 2025 at 11:58 PM
20 years later, Vegavis is still a duck ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
SKULL OF VEGAVIS
Cretaceous Antarctic bird skull elucidates early avian ecological diversity
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Cretaceous Antarctic bird skull elucidates early avian ecological diversity
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
February 5, 2025 at 10:16 PM
SKULL OF VEGAVIS
Cretaceous Antarctic bird skull elucidates early avian ecological diversity
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Cretaceous Antarctic bird skull elucidates early avian ecological diversity
www.nature.com/articles/s41...