An article published in the journal “Nature” describes a research on the vocal organs of Vegavis iaai, a bird that lived over 66 million years ago, at the end of the dinosaurs era. The analysis of the fossils discovered in 1992 Antarctica’s Vega Island showed that they include the syrinx, the anatomic structure that allows birds to sing or chirp. This demonstrates for the first time that even such ancient birds had such capabilities.

Vegavis iaai is an ancient bird related to modern ducks and geese that lived in the late Cretaceous period. The two known specimens were discovered in 1992 but the fossils were very delicate and demanded careful preparation in order to be studied without risk. The application of modern technologies such as CT-scans allowed to examine these fossils in a non destructive way obtaining details about Vegavis iaai’s features.

Because of the difficulties in the study of the fossils, only in 2005 their species was identified. Julia Clarke, a palaeontologist at the University of Texas, discovered in 2013 that among the preserved anatomical elements there was also the syrinx and directed its analysis. It’s a stroke of luck because the syrinx is a cartilaginous structure that is much less likely to get fossilized than bones.

Until a fossil syrinx had been never found in such an ancient a bird and for this reason it wasn’t clear when birds evolved the ability to sing or chirp. This structure seems absent in the dinosaurs and crocodiles of the time, suggesting that it evolved later, when birds were already differentiated from their cousins.

Fossils of Vegavis iaai were already considered important because they proved that birds already existed at the time of the dinosaurs. This research confirms their importance because it provides more information on birds’ evolution. The Vegavis iaai’s fossil syrinx was compared with that of other birds, of which 12 belong to living species and one belonging to the one that was the most ancient with a syrinx before this discovery.

Dr. Julia Clarke stressed the importance of this discovery pointing out that the origin of birds is about much more than the evolution of flight and feathers. The evolution of birds’ ability to emit complex sounds can also provide information on other characteristics such as larger brains, useful to take advantage of their singing or chirping skills.

A part of the team that collaborated with Dr. Julia Clarke is working on creating models of these sound-producint organs, a further development of this type of research. Those are important insights for the studies of birds evolution and Vegavis iaai fossils are allowing us to make new progress.