This Prehistoric Bird Choked to Death on 800 Rocks, And No One Knows Why

A prehistoric bird that lived and died 120 million years ago has presented forensic paleontologists with a baffling medical mystery.

Somehow, it managed to die with more than 800 tiny pebbles in its throat – a situation that researchers think almost certainly caused its demise. But why was the sparrow-sized bird swallowing the stones in the first place?

It's a discovery that raises some interesting questions about the diet, behavior, and physiology of prehistoric birds – especially since the mass of stones discovered in the esophagus of the newly discovered Chromeornis funkyi is unlike anything seen in modern birds.

"It's pretty rare to be able to know what caused the death of a specific individual in the fossil record," says paleontologist Jingmai O'Connor of the Field Museum i