News Animals

This ancient fowl bit like a dinosaur and pecked like a bird

New fossil leads to the most detailed 3-D reconstruction of Ichthyornis dispar’s skull

Ichthyornis dispar skull and illustration

BIRD BEAK  Using fossils of an ancient toothed bird (illustrated at right), scientists made a 3-D reconstruction of the bird’s skull (left), revealing the animal had a small, pincerlike beak at the tip of its snout.

Michael Hanson and B.-A. Bhullar

By Carolyn Gramling

- More than 2 years ago

A bird that lived alongside dinosaurs may have preened its feathers like modern birds — despite a full mouth of teeth that also let it chomp like a dino.