Australian Scientists Unearth 25 Million Year Old Eagle Fossil

Archaehierax sylvestris, a newly described raptor fossil species which lived during the late Oligocene in Australia’s interior. J Blokland/Flinders University.

Scientists have discovered an ancient eagle fossil in South Australia that lived 25 million years ago.

The fossil, one of Australia’s earliest examples of the Accipitridae family (eagles, old world vultures, and hawks), is named Archaehierax sylvestris, the ancient Greek for ‘ancient hawk of the forest.’