Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
336 / Mesozoic
Vegavis
Vegavis iaai
A waterbird close to ducks lived before the non-avian dinosaurs vanished.
View original image · 1536 × 1024- Time range
- About 69–66 million years ago
- Final stage
- End of the Cretaceous
- Geographic range
- Antarctic coasts and shallows · Vega Island
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Vegavis?
Vegavis (Vegavis iaai) was an extinct organism known from About 69–66 million years ago, with a range in Antarctic coasts and shallows · Vega Island.
Life and ecology
Vegavis flew and foraged along mild, forested Antarctic coasts.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Vegavis disappear?
Its record, about 69–66 million years old, does not show that it survived the end-Cretaceous boundary, although related modern-bird lineages did; the cause of its disappearance is not established.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Vegavis?
Partial skeletons, a syrinx and bone microstructure support its crown-bird position.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS