Scientists have pieced together the skull of a strange ancient bird, revealing a primitive beak lined with teeth.
The "transitional" bird sheds light on a pivotal point in the pathway from dinosaurs to modern birds.
Ichthyornis dispar lived in North America about 86 million years ago.
The seagull-sized bird had a beak and a brain much like modern birds, but the sharp teeth and powerful jaws of dinosaurs like Velociraptor.
"It shows us what the first bird beak looked like," said Bhart-Anjan Bhullar of Yale University, a study researcher.
"It's a real mosaic of features, a transitional form."
Link to story: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43981165
How birds got their beaks - new fossil evidence, BBC News
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