Dinosaur-era bird with scythe-like beak sheds light on avian diversity

An artist’s reconstruction of the bird Falcatakely forsterae that lived 68 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period in Madagascar. Illustration by Mark Witton/Handout via REUTERS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A delicate but exquisitely preserved skull of a crow-sized bird with a scythe-like beak that inhabited Madagascar 68 million years ago is showing scientists that they have a lot of learn about avian diversity during the age of dinosaurs.

Scientists on Wednesday said the bird, called Falcatakely forsterae, possessed a face unlike any other known bird from the age of dinosaurs - the Mesozoic Era - not only because of the beak shape but because of its underlying anatomy.