The ancestors of modern birds had teeth. Now recently in the Liaoning Province of China, paleontologist Chiappe and his team discovered the fossil remains of a bird with a dentition specialized for the processing of hard-shelled insects and snails.

The unusual fossil, described in the January issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology lived in the Early Cretaceous (Aptian Barimian) and was so well preserved that some of its stomach contents were still present. Sulcavis is the first discovery of a bird with ornamented tooth enamel.

The ancient tiny bird teeth were sharp with pointy crowns and serrated ridges. The bird is named Sulcavis geeorum and belongs to the now extinct group Enantiornithes which were the most numerous birds during the age of dinosaurs.

 

 

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