According to ScienceDaily, “an asteroid impact near the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico triggered the extinction of all known non-bird dinosaurs.” However, for the early ancestors of today’s waterfowl, surviving the mass extinction was like “water off a duck’s back,” as it had no effect. Antarctica may have served as a refuge, protected by its distance from the turmoil occurring elsewhere on the planet. Evidence from fossils suggests that a temperate climate with lush vegetation provided sanctuary for the earliest ancestors of ducks and geese. A study on this, led by Dr. Christopher Torres from the National Science Foundation (NSF), was published on nature.com

A newly discovered 69-million-year-old fossil from Antarctica provides the earliest known evidence of modern waterfowl. The fossil was identified as a nearly complete skull of Vegavis iaai, which belongs to an early classification of ducks and geese. It was known to roam the Earth at the same time that Tyrannosaurus rex dominated North America. This fossil provides evidence that modern bird lineages may have existed before the end-Cretaceous extinction and may have persisted in Antarctica. The specimen has something that all previous fossils of this bird have lacked: a nearly complete skull.

Its features suggest that it played a unique role in its environment, contributing to its survival. Many bird fossils found from the same period in places like Madagascar and Argentina show species with teeth and long bony tails, which are only distantly related to modern birds. However, the presence of Vegavis (a close relative of modern waterfowl) suggests that something completely different was occurring in the Southern Hemisphere, making it a refuge for early birds. Its skeleton suggests that it used its feet for underwater propulsion, like modern waterfowl.

In conclusion, this fossil provides strong evidence of waterfowl life on Antarctic land before the end-Cretaceous extinction and highlights how the Antarctic landmass helped shape modern ecosystems over deep time.