Every now and then a new discovery from the past shows how diverse life can be back then. There might be more animals and plants that have flourished then than most people realize. A new type of prehistoric bird has been discovered, which might shed more light into the diversity of life in the past.
The new species of bird has been discovered in the Canadian Arctic. This shows that the region has been much warmer then than it is now. The bird fossil is around 90 million years old, which makes it one of the oldest bird fossils in the region.
Some prehistoric birds have teeth, and the newly discovered bird likely had teeth as well. This has been speculated by expedition leader John Tarduno, professor and chair at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Rochester. The team is made up of undergraduate and graduate students from the university.
The fossils that were discovered included parts of the ulna and the humerus. For birds, the humerus is part of its wings. This indicates that the bird found has direct relations to modern birds, as assessed by Paleontologist Julia Clarke from the University of Texas and also part of the team. She said that the bird is an evolutionary cousin to modern birds.
The bird fossils come from the same period and location as other fossils found by Tarduno in earlier expeditions, according to the University of Rochester's site. Tarduno has said that with the fossil find, the region then was warm. It has been speculated that the region was warm but had seasonal ice. Tarduno though said that it might not even be the case. Based on how the bird was, it had food sources that would not have been possible in ice.
Through the fossils, Tarduno and his team see the region then to be just as warm as Florida today, according to Science Daily. The region had much volcanic activity and a much more diverse ecosystem. Creatures such as turtles, fish and a crocodile-like reptile called the champsosaur lived there. The bird has been given the scientific name Tingmiatornis arctica by the team.
With a new bird found near the Arctic, scientists see a different ecosystem in the region then from how it is now. A new type of prehistoric bird has been discovered which shows a region that has much more biodiversity. Scientists also say that Neanderthals had their own tourist spot then.
