2015 Event A new birdlike dinosaur, Yi qi, has been discovered in China; the fossils suggest that it lived about 160 million years ago and had membranous, bat-like wings that not been seen in other dinosaur species 2014 Event Fossils of a new species of giant penguin, named Palaeeudyptes klekowskii, have been found on Seymour Island in Antarctica; the penguins lived about 40 million years ago and likely weighed about 250 pounds 2014 Event Fossils of prehistoric bird species Pelagornis sandersi have been uncovered at the Charleston, S.C. airport; the species is the largest-known bird discovered to date, with a wingspan of approximately 24 feet 2011 Event The world's potentially oldest fossils, thought to be 3.4 billion years old, are found in the Strelley Pool rock formation in Western Australia's outback 1988 Event Oldest known insect fossils (390 million yrs) reported in Science 1977 Event Paleontologist Elso Barghoorn announces that 3.4-billion-year-old one-celled fossils, the earliest life forms, had been discovered 1975 Event Oldest animal fossils in U.S. discovered in North Carolina 1769 Birthday William Smith, geologist, Strata Identified by Organized Fossils
