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- Researchers have discovered a bird foot from 99 million years ago that had a hyper-elongated third toe.This is the first time such a foot structure has been observed in birds either extinct or living
- The researchers named it Elektorornis chenguangi. Elektronis means “amber bird”.It belongs to a group of extinct birds called Enantiornithes, the most abundant type of bird known from the Mesozoic era.
- It is thought that Enantiornithines became extinct during the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event about 66 million years ago, along with dinosaurs.They have no living descendants.
- Based on the fossil,the team estimated that the Elektorornis was smaller than a sparrow and it was arboreal which means it spent most of its time in trees as opposed to on the ground or in water.
- Further,they have said that this bird may have used the long, sensitive toe to probe cracks in trees for insects and grubs.
