Fossils unearthed in Antarctica belonged to the 'bony-toothed' bird 50 MILLION years ago - Daily Mail

Called pelagornithids, the ancient avians soared over Earth's oceans more than 40 million years ago.

Researchers examining a fossil foot bone and a preserved jaw fragment determined the species lived longer ago than assumed and was bigger than the largest known birds on record - fossils were uncovered in the 1980s but sat unexamined for decades.

A 50-million-year-old fossil of a foot bone from a pelagornithid, a member of an extinct group of giant birds.  The avian predators patroled the oceans with wingspans of up to 21 feet, dwarfing the 11½-foot wingspan of today's largest bird, the wandering albatross.

Reviewing the original notes, Kloess determined a fossil of a foot bone, known as a tarsometatarsus, was far older than originally thought - from about 50 million years ago rather than 40 million.

The pelagornithid (center) soared over Earth's oceans more than 40 million years ago.

Their size puts them at the upper limit of how large a bird can get and still fly, according to Smithsonian magazine, making them a good candidate for the largest birds to ever get off the ground.  .

Pelagornithids are often known as 'bony-toothed' birds but, in reality, their pseudoteeth acted more like fingernails, helping them snatch squid and fish from the water.

A fossil from a smaller pelagornithid dates from 62 million years ago, but the foot fossil indicates these larger varieties arose just after life rebounded from the mass extinction that killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

The last known pelagornithid is from 2.5 million years ago, when an ice age began on Earth.

Because of the sharp-looking projections on their jaws, pelagornithids are often known as 'bony-toothed' birds

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