There might finally be an answer to why ostriches are so grumpy. You would be too if your ancestors had been around on earth from 50 mn years. That's a huge amount of evolving and sticking around! Scientists, who have been observing a set of fossils dating back 50 million years, have finally identified it as a relative of the modern-day ostrich. And it's pretty authoritative considering they spent a decade studying the fossil!
Reuters
The bird fossils ¨C named Calciavis Grandei - were found completely intact with bones, feathers and soft tissues, which is pretty rare for birds because they are more fragile than mammal bones and are vulnerable to getting crushed during fossilisation.
Two of the fossils are from the Eocene Epoch, which goes back 56 million to 36 million years, and were found by fossil diggers within the Green River Formation in Wyoming, America.
The bird is believed to be the size of (roughly) and similar to chickens in that they were mostly ground dwellers and only flew in short bursts to escape predators.
Sterling Nesbitt of Virginia Tech¡¯s College of Sciene, said, ¡°This is among one of the earliest well-represented bird species after the age of large dinosaurs.
¡°You can definitely appreciate how complete these fossil are.¡±
Researchers have called this bird a close relative of the modern-day ostrich, kiwi, and tinamou, who live in the southern continents. They said Calciavis and other more tropical birds went extinct after tropical forests disappeared in North America.
Nesbitt also said, ¡°Back when Calciavis was alive, it lived in a tropical environment, rich with tropical life and this is in stark contrast to the high-desert environment in Wyoming today.¡±
The Calciavis skeleton will play a vital role in interpreting new bird fossils and other fossils from the Eocene epoch that were collected decades ago.?