An enormous jawbone found in Kazakhstan is further evidence that giant birds roamed - or flew above - the Earth at the same time as the dinosaurs.
Palaeontologists have found the fossilised remains of a giant bird that lived in central Asia more than 65 million years ago, a finding that challenges theories about the diversity of early birds.
The creature may have been taller than an ostrich if it had been flightless and, if it flew, had a greater wingspan than that of the albatross, they reported in the British journal Biology Letters.
The bird, called Samrukia nessovi after the mythical Kazakh Phoenix, lived in what is now Kazakhstan.
"In fact, these big birds fit into the idea that the Cretaceous wasn't 'a non-avian dinosaurs-only theme park.' Sure, non-avian dinosaurs were important and big in ecological terms, but there was at least some space for other land animals," lead author of the paper, Darren Naish said in a report by Discovery News.
The findings were based on all that's left of the animal, a toothless lower jaw found in Late Cretaceous sediment in Kyzylorda, southern Kazakhstan.
The creature may have been taller than an ostrich if it had been flightless and, if it flew, had a greater wingspan than that of the albatross, they reported in the British journal Biology Letters.
The bird, called Samrukia nessovi after the mythical Kazakh Phoenix, lived in what is now Kazakhstan.
"In fact, these big birds fit into the idea that the Cretaceous wasn't 'a non-avian dinosaurs-only theme park.' Sure, non-avian dinosaurs were important and big in ecological terms, but there was at least some space for other land animals," lead author of the paper, Darren Naish said in a report by Discovery News.
The findings were based on all that's left of the animal, a toothless lower jaw found in Late Cretaceous sediment in Kyzylorda, southern Kazakhstan.
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