November 25, 2020 5 min read The find of an early bird with a tall, sickle-shaped beak reveals hidden species diversity during the age of dinosaurs, according to an international team of researchers led by Alan H. Turner of Stony Brook University and Patrick O’Connor of Ohio University. The findings are detailed in a paper published in The newly discovered, crow-sized bird fossil that would have sliced its way through the air wielding a large, blade-like beak, offers new insight into the evolution of face and beak shape in the Mesozoic forerunners of modern birds. Illustration depicting Falcatakely amid nonavian dinosaurs and other creatures during the Late Cretaceous in Madagascar. (Credit: Mark Witton)