70-mya-old bird skeleton found (with eggs)

["Tim Williams" <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com>]

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/18/1077072709769.html

70-million-year-old bird skeleton found                                      
                            February 19, 2004

Scientists have unearthed the skeleton of a prehistoric bird and the remains 
of its eggs dating back more than 70 million years, in western Romania, a 
paleontologist said.

Vlad Codrea, who is considered to be Romania's top paleontologist, said the 
enantiornithine is the country's oldest bird fossil.

The size of a blackbird, it is believed to be between 70 million and 72 
million years-old, he said.

"The discovery is extremely important," Professor Codrea said. "Due to the 
fragility of the bird skeleton and especially the fragility of the eggs, 
discoveries like these are very rare."

He said the discovery was made recently near the city of Hateg, about 350 
kilometres north-west of the capital.

It was the third major discovery for Professor Codrea, who is a professor at 
the University of Babes-Bolyai in Cluj.

Last year in Transylvania, he unearthed two fossils of rhabdodon robustus - 
small dinosaurs with birdlike feet.

Three years ago, he found an ancient relative of the crocodile and eight 
nests of petrified dinosaur eggs. French and Belgian science and history 
museums helped finance his research.

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