Bizarre Fossil Bird Had 800 Stones in Its Throat — What Happened?

A Mysterious Fossil Discovery

A 120-million-year-old bird fossil has sparked a puzzling question: how did it end up swallowing over 800 stones, ultimately leading to its death? This newly identified species, named Chromeornis funkyi, was found with a throat full of tiny stones, a discovery that has left paleontologists scratching their heads. The mystery remains: why would this ancient bird ingest such an unusual and fatal collection of materials?

The fossil was discovered by Dr. Jingmai O’Connor, an associate curator at Chicago’s Field Museum, who quickly realized the bird was a new species. While its appearance was intriguing, the real shock came when she found a mass of stones lodged in the bird’s esophagus.

An Unlikely Discovery

When Dr. Jingmai O’Connor first examined the Chromeornis funkyi fossil, she noticed the bird’s throat was filled with a large mass of tiny stones. At first, she considered the possibility that the stones were gizzard stones, a common feature in many modern birds and reptiles that aids in digestion. However, further examination revealed that this was not the case.

Unlike gizzard stones, which are usually found in the stomach or gizzard, this mass was lodged in the bird’s esophagus, an alarming and unexpected location. The number of stones was also far beyond what would be typical for a bird using them for digestion. Over 800 stones were found, some of which were not even true stones but tiny clay balls.

This unusual composition raised new questions for O’Connor and her team. It should be noted that she has worked on many fossil birds before, but she points out that the presence of stones in an animal’s throat is something she’s never encountered.

What Drives Bird Behavior?

One of the most intriguing aspects of this find is the possibility that the bird was suffering from illness when it ingested the stones. Birds today, when unwell, sometimes exhibit abnormal behaviors, such as ingesting foreign materials.

“I noticed that it had this really weird mass of stones in its esophagus, right up against the neck bones,” noted O’Connor. “This is really weird, because in all of the fossils that I know of, no one has ever found a mass of stones inside the throat of an animal.”

O’Connor speculates that the bird may have swallowed the stones while in a state of sickness or distress. If this is the case, the bird may have tried to regurgitate the stones to relieve itself, but ended up choking when the material became lodged in its airway.

This theory is bolstered by other fossil finds, such as the discovery of a bird that died from egg binding, a condition where an egg becomes stuck inside the body, causing death.

Rare Fossil Evidence of Cause of Death

Many other well-preserved fossils provide clues about sudden death due to external factors like volcanic eruptions or rapid burial (for example, the famous “fighting dinosaurs” fossils). But this bird’s demise stands out because of the clear indication that the stones in its throat caused its death.

“It’s pretty rare to be able to know what caused the death of a specific individual in the fossil record,” said the paleontologist. “Learning about Chromeornis and other birds that went extinct could ultimately help guide conservation efforts today.”