Oldest Known Avian 'Squawk Box' Helped Ancient Bird Quack

More than 66 million years ago, a duck-size waterbird flew around the woods of ancient Antarctica, honking and calling to its mate with what is now the oldest discovered avian vocal organ on record, a new study finds. The findings also suggest that dinosaurs, for which no vocal organ has been found, likely didn't sing and tweet like birds do. The vocal organ, known as a syrinx, is tiny: about the width of a pencil and less than 0.3 inches (1 centimeter) tall.