Fossil rhea dating 65,000 years uncovered in Corrientes, Argentina

Scientists from the Universidad Nacional del Nordeste and the Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral (CECOAL), together with collaborators from CONICET and the Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba, described the first record of a non‑flying bird from the Late Pleistocene in the Toropí/Yupoí Formation of Corrientes Province. The specimen, a fragment of a right tarsometatarsus and an associated thoracic vertebra, was recovered in 2024 from low‑level fluvial deposits and assigned to the genus Rhea (sp.), a group that includes modern South American rheas.

The discovery, dated to roughly 65,000–50,000 years ago, was published in the international journal Historical Biology. It represents the second avian fossil from this geological unit and highlights the low fossilization potential of birds, underscoring the importance of protecting the province’s paleontological heritage.