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Falcatakely

Say it: fal-kat-uh-KELL-ee

Name means: “sickle beak”1

Ate: MeatEarly birdsLate Cretaceous

Falcatakely was a crow-sized bird that lived in Madagascar 66 to 72 million years ago. It had a long, deep beak like a toucan, which was very unusual for a bird from the time of dinosaurs.1

Lived

72 to 66 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Madagascar3

Food

Meat3

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Falcatakely had a beak that looked like a toucan's, but it was not a close relative of toucans. Its beak shape evolved separately.1

The upper jaw of Falcatakely was made mostly of a large, toothless maxilla bone, with a small premaxilla that held teeth.1

Falcatakely is one of the few Mesozoic birds known to have a deep, long beak. Most early birds had simple, short snouts.1

This bird belonged to a group called Enantiornithes, which were the most common birds during the Cretaceous period.3

The only known fossil of Falcatakely was found in the Maevarano Formation in Madagascar, a site famous for other unusual animals like the giant frog Beelzebufo.3

Falcatakely shows that some ancient birds evolved large beaks before modern birds appeared, challenging old ideas about beak evolution.1

AI-made picture of Falcatakely — An AI-made picture of how Falcatakely might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Falcatakely

?How big was Falcatakely?

About the size of a crow. Its beak was about 9 centimetres (3.5 inches) long.2

?Did Falcatakely have teeth?

Yes, it had teeth in the tip of its upper jaw, which is unusual for a bird.2

?Is Falcatakely a dinosaur?

Yes, it is a bird, and birds are a type of dinosaur called avialan dinosaurs.2

?When did Falcatakely live?

It lived about 68 to 70 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Falcatakely
Named by: O'Connor et al. 20203
Group: Early birds
Family / clade: Enantiornithes3
Classification: Theropoda > Avialae3
Age of the rocks: 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)3
Rock formations: Maevarano3
Countries: Madagascar3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Falcatakely was named in 2020 by Patrick O'Connor and colleagues based on a fossil skull found in Madagascar.3 1
Still debated: Scientists are still debating exactly how Falcatakely used its unusual beak, since it had teeth in the front but a large toothless beak behind.1

Where the facts come from

Late Cretaceous bird from Madagascar reveals unique development of beaks | Nature (nature.com)
Falcatakely (en.wikipedia.org)
Falcatakely in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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