ECUADORAN AMAZON — The hoatzin was one of the strangest birds I saw during our trip here last month. Even its name, pronounced wat-sin, sounds peculiar and like something that would arise from ...

T he hoatzin, a bizarre bird from the Amazon, has long puzzled scientists.Known for its foul odor and unique traits, it seems like something straight out of a science fiction novel. Recent studies ...

Why it's awesome: The hoatzin is often regarded as one of the world's strangest birds.Hatchlings are born with clawed wings — a rare, prehistoric trait — and adults give off a strong ...

The hoatzin is a South American bird that eats leaves instead of berries, insects or seeds like many other birds. ... No other bird in South America looks, eats or sounds like the hoatzin.

Since its discovery, researchers have lumped the bird under various groups, stating they have similarities to other birds, such as African turacos.It’s believed the hoatzin may have branched off from ...

However, the discovery in Brazil of the oldest extinct species of birds related to the hoatzin — a fossil more than 20 million years old named Hoazinavis lacustris — and the confirmation, which there ...

Scientists have examined fossil relatives of the South American Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin), which point to African origins for the enigmatic bird. A team comprising German, Brazilian and French ...

In 2024, biologists analyzed and mapped the genomes of more than 360 bird species to create a family tree of major bird groups, but where hoatzin fit into the picture is unclear.