Some probe-foraging birds locate their buried prey by detecting vibrations in the substrate using a specialized tactile bill-tip organ. This remarkable ‘sixth sense’ is known as remote touch, and the associated organ is found in probe-foraging species belonging to both the palaeognathous (in kiwi) and neognathous (in ibises and shorebirds) groups of modern birds. Intriguingly, a structurally similar bill-tip organ is also present in the beaks of living, non-probing palaeognathous birds (e.g. emu and ostriches) that do not use remote touch. A team of researchers from South Africa provides evidence that the lithornithids the earliest known palaeognathous birds which evolved in the Cretaceous period had the ability to use remote touch.