Pumiliornis tessellatus is an ancient bird from the Middle Eocene of Messel, Hesse, Germany. It is described as a wren-sized[1] anisodactyl bird with a long, slender bill and strong hallux. Its species name tessellatus, meaning "mosaic" in Latin, is a reference to its unusual distribution of characters and uncertain phylogenetic placement.[2][3] It has some anatomical affinities with Cuculiformes, but similar fossils that might be related to this taxon do not.[4]
| Pumiliornis Temporal range:
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|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Clade: | Australaves |
| Family: | †Morsoravidae |
| Genus: | †Pumiliornis (Mayr, 1999) |
| Type species | |
| †Pumiliornis tessellatus (Mayr, 1999)
| |
In 2014, a new specimen of Pumiliornis was described that showed preserved stomach contents of pollen grains from a eudicotyledonous angiosperm, making it the earliest fossil evidence of flower-visiting behavior in birds.[5]
References
edit- ^ Mayr, Gerald (2008). "Pumiliornis tessellatus MAYR, 1999 revisited - new data on the osteology and possible phylogenetic affinities of an enigmatic Middle Eocene bird". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 82/3 (3): 247–253. doi:10.1007/BF02988891. S2CID 55757331.
- ^ Mayr, Gerald (1999). "Pumiliornis tessellatus n. gen. n. sp., a new enigmatic bird from the Middle Eocene of Grube Messel (Hessen, Germany)" (PDF). Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg. 216: 75–83.
- ^ Mayr, Gerald (2009). Paleogene Birds. Springer. pp. 114–116. ISBN 978-3540896272.
- ^ Mayr, Gerald (2009). Paleogene Fossil Birds. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 115. ISBN 9783540896289.
- ^ Mayr, Gerald; Wilde, Volker (2014). "Eocene fossil is earliest evidence of flower-visiting by birds". Biology Letters. 10 (5): 20140223. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2014.0223. PMC 4046380. PMID 24872461.