#elektorornis

[si-nequal-is]

Elektorornis and Oculudentavis, the bird with weirdo feet and the lizard with birdy face.

[albertonykus]

A selection of new dinosaurs named in 2019.

[typhlonectes]

This ancient bird sported a ginormous toe

Elektorornis’s third digit was longer than its lower leg

Imagine having a toe as long as your shin. That’s essentially what researchers have found in a bird foot trapped in amber for nearly 100 million years. The appendage features an extremely long third toe never before seen in birds.

Amber dealers suspected the fossil foot, originally found in the Hukawng Valley of Myanmar in 2014, belonged to a lizard, which are known for their long toes. But lizards have five toes, suggesting the sample belonged to a bird instead...