Presbyornithidae is an extinct group of birds found in North America, South America, East Asia, Australia and possibly North Africa.[2] They had evolved by the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous and became extinct during the Aquitanian age of the Early Miocene.[3] The family contains the oldest known neognath, Teviornis from the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia.[4]
| Presbyornithidae Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Presbyornis pervetus | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Clade: | Anserimorphae |
| Family: | †Presbyornithidae Wetmore, 1926[1] |
| Genera | |
| |
Initially, presbyornithids were believed to present a mix of characters shown by waterbirds, shorebirds and flamingos and were used to argue for an evolutionary relationship between these groups,[5] but they are now generally accepted to be waterfowl closely related to modern ducks, geese, and screamers.[6] They were generally long-legged, long-necked birds, standing around one meter high, with the body of a duck, feet similar to a wader but webbed, and a flat duck-like bill adapted for filter feeding. At least some species were social birds that lived in large flocks and nested in colonies, while others like Wilaru were terrestrial and territorial.[6]
Specimens of presbyornithids have also been discovered from the Lance Formation of Wyoming.[7] Other possible Eocene presbyornithids include Presbyornis mongoliensis from Mongolia, Proherodius oweni and Headonornis hantoniensis from England with the partial right scapula BMNH PAL 4989, but P. oweni is now considered as Aves incertae sedis,[8] and the two other taxa are now referred to as stem group representatives of the Phoenicopteriformes.[9][10]
References
edit- ^ Wetmore, Alexander (1926). "Fossil birds from the Green River Deposits of Easter Utah". Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 16 (3–4): 391–402. doi:10.5962/p.231090.
- ^ Géraldine Garcia; Cécile Mourer-Chauviré; Mohammed Adaci; Mustapha Bensalah; Fateh Mebrouk; Xavier Valentin; M'hammed Mahboubi; Rodolphe Tabuce (2020). "First discovery of avian egg and bone remains (Presbyornithidae) from the Gour Lazib (Eocene, Algeria)" (PDF). Journal of African Earth Sciences. 162: Article 103666. Bibcode:2020JAfES.16203666G. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2019.103666. S2CID 210607715.
- ^ Worthy, Trevor H.; De Pietri, Vanesa L.; Scofield, R. Paul; Hand, Suzanne J. (2023-03-20). "A new Eocene species of presbyornithid (Aves, Anseriformes) from Murgon, Australia". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 47 (4): 416–430. Bibcode:2023Alch...47..416W. doi:10.1080/03115518.2023.2184491. ISSN 0311-5518. S2CID 257679005.
- ^ Marjanović, D. (2021). "The Making of Calibration Sausage Exemplified by Recalibrating the Transcriptomic Timetree of Jawed Vertebrates". Frontiers in Genetics. 12. 521693. doi:10.3389/fgene.2021.521693. PMC 8149952. PMID 34054911.
- ^ Feduccia, Alan (1976). "Osteological evidence for shorebird affinities of the flamingos" (PDF). Auk. 93 (3): 587–601. JSTOR 4084959.
- ^ a b Vanesa L. De Pietri; R. Paul Scofield; Nikita Zelenkov; Walter E. Boles; Trevor H. Worthy (2016). "The unexpected survival of an ancient lineage of anseriform birds into the Neogene of Australia: the youngest record of Presbyornithidae". Royal Society Open Science. 3 (2): 150635. Bibcode:2016RSOS....350635D. doi:10.1098/rsos.150635. PMC 4785986. PMID 26998335.
- ^ Hope, S. (2002). "The Mesozoic radiation of Neornithes". In Chiappe, L.M.; Witmer, L.W. (eds.). Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 339–388. ISBN 978-0520200944.
- ^ Dyke, Gareth J. (2001). "The Fossil Waterfowl (Aves: Anseriformes) from the Eocene of England". American Museum Novitates (3354): 1–15. doi:10.1206/0003-0082(2001)354<0001:TFWAAF>2.0.CO;2.
- ^ Mayr, G. (2009). "Phoenicopteriformes (flamingos) and Podicipediformes (grebes)". Paleogene Fossil Birds. Springer. pp. 105–109. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-89628-9_10. ISBN 978-3-540-89628-9.
- ^ Zelenkov, N. V. (2021). "A revision of the Palaeocene–Eocene Mongolian Presbyornithidae (Aves: Anseriformes)". Paleontological Journal. 55 (3). doi:10.31857/S0031031X21030132.
