"Attenborough's Strange Bird: The First Toothless Fossil"

A new species of fossil bird, named Imparavis attenboroughi in honor of Sir David Attenborough, has been described as the first of its kind to evolve toothlessness. The bird belonged to a group called enantiornithines, which went extinct 66 million years ago. The discovery pushes back the timeline for toothlessness in this group by about 48 to 50 million years, challenging previous assumptions. The fossil's unique wing bones suggest it may have had strong wing beats, and its toothless beak hints at a potentially unique diet compared to other enantiornithines. The researchers also revisited a previously described fossil bird, Chiappeavis, and suggest that it too was an early toothless enantiornithine, indicating that toothlessness may not have been as unique in Early Cretaceous enantiornithines as previously thought.