CNN —For more than a century, scientists have been unsuccessfully hunting for skull fossils for the thunder bird species Genyornis newtoni. Now, the discovery of a complete G. newtoni skull has resolved this longstanding mystery, giving scientists their first face-to-face encounter with the massive mihirung. Pictured here is the skull of G. newtoni, which is helping resolve a long-standing mystery about the giant bird's face. The illustration also highlights how G. newtoni stacks up sizewise to its closest relative, Anhima cornuta (nearest to G. newtoni) and the cassowary (not related). From there, he constructed a scaffold that was consistent across multiple skull fossils.

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Persons: newtoni, Larry Witmer, ” Witmer, “ It’s, ”, Witmer, Phoebe McInerney, ” McInerney, “ Genyornis, Genyornis, dromornithids, Anhima, Jacob Blokland, ” Blokland, Blokland, McInerney, Blockland, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Flinders University G, Ohio University, “, Flinders University, Flinders Palaeontology, Flinders University Big, Scientific Locations: Australia, Australia’s, it’s, South Australia, South America, “