One of world's oldest bird species discovered

[Still Waters]

The ancestor of some of the largest flying birds ever has been found in Waipara, North Canterbury.

Bony-toothed birds (Pelagornithids), an ancient family of huge seafaring birds, were thought to have evolved in the Northern Hemisphere—but that theory has been upended by the discovery of the family's oldest, but smallest member in New Zealand.

At 62 million-years-old, the newly-discovered Protodontopteryx ruthae, is one of the oldest named bird species in the world. It lived in New Zealand soon after the dinosaurs died out.

https://phys.org/news/2019-09-scientists-world-oldest-bird-species.html