+34
A significant fossil discovery in Queensland has identified a new species of prehistoric bird, providing insights into Australia's ancient avian diversity and the evolution of flight-capable dinosaurs.
An 'extremely rare' fossil discovery in outback Queensland has revealed a new species of prehistoric bird that lived more than 100 million years ago. While digging in the remains of an ancient inland sea near Richmond, about 500km inland from Townsville, Kevin Petersen uncovered a long, slender bone.
The then-curator of marine fossil museum Kronosaurus Korner sent a picture to University of New England palaeontologist Matt White, who drove to Richmond to have a look.
Rare bird fossil discovered in Queensland
'I was first looking at bones that looked quite similar in China...over 20 years ago, so I knew exactly what they were,' Dr White said. 'We usually find a lot of marine reptiles out at Richmond, but to find bird bones, it's extremely rare.
' Researchers used the fossilised tarsometatarsus, a fused foot bone found in birds, and tibiotarsus, the longest leg bone, to formally describe a new bird species, dubbed, which experts believe lived during the Cretaceous period about 100 million years ago. Dr White said the bird likely had teeth and was roughly the size of a scrub turkey, with completed fossils found in China and Germany from the same period used to fill critical gaps in the animal's appearance.
'But we have had a lot of birds where we have more complete skeletons and we can do reverse dissection and go, right, these are roughly what the legs look like. ' University of New South Wales Professor Mike Archer, who was not involved in the research, said primitive birds that lived during the Cretaceous period, such as, likely had a wide variety of shapes and sizes, ranging from small wrens to large emu-like animals. 'Birds are dinosaurs,' he said.
Sparse Cretaceous bird record in Australia
'Some of the birds have become so dinosaurian-like, like our cassowary, that you have to worry more about that than you would have had to worry about a velociraptor. ' Despite the diversity of birds living in the country today, Dr White said Australia's Cretaceous bird record remains remarkably sparse. Before the Richmond discovery, only a handful of bird bones from the period had been found in Australia, with just one other primitive species described in 1986.
(Professor Archer said the same traits that allowed birds to fly made them less likely to survive fossilisation.
Flying birds rarely survive fossilisation
'Their bones are paper thin, and it's much harder and much less likely to have them survive the processes of fossilisation. ' 'Every time a fossil of one of these kinds these flying animals turns up, we all have to cheer because they're very rare. ') Professor Archer said the location of the discovery also supported theories that some primitive birds in the group fed on fish and travelled across large stretches of water.
'It's quite likely that the part of the where it came from was not near the land,' he said. 'It might well have been fairly far out to sea...reinforcing the idea that some of these birds could have been foraging for fish. '
Paleontology Fossils Cretaceous Period Bird Evolution Australian Wildlife
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Far North Queensland industries lose staff due to working holiday visa changesMajor employers in Far North Queensland report staff shortages and hesitation among workers following federal government changes to working holiday visas, which cap numbers and introduce a ballot system. The tourism sector warns of potential labor shortages similar to the pandemic era, impacting peak season capacity and safety due to the loss of multilingual workers.
Read more »
Queensland Ballet Reports $5.24M Loss Despite Revenue GrowthQueensland Ballet posted a net operating loss of $5.24 million in 2025 due to a nearly 30 percent drop in box office revenue, though total income rose 13 percent to $24.9 million with strong support from government funding and charitable donations.
Read more »
Manchester City found guilty of over 100 Premier League financial chargesAn independent commission found Manchester City guilty of nearly all 100-plus Premier League financial charges, with wrongdoing exceeding £900 million. The club faces sanctions including possible points deduction or expulsion and plans to appeal.
Read more »
An EV sold every 100 seconds: Australian demand for electric cars more than doublesA record 157,957 new EVs were sold nationally between January and June, according to the Electric Vehicle Council
Read more »