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Bathornis
''Bathornis'' ("tall bird") is an extinct genus of birds related to modern day seriemas, that lived in North America about 37–20 million years ago. Like the closely related and also extinct phorusrhacids, it was a flightless predator, occupying predatory niches in environments classically considered to be dominated by mammals. It was a highly diverse and successful genus, spanning a large number of species that occurred from the Priabonian Eocene to the Burdigalian Miocene epochs. Description Though most material is highly incomplete, ''Bathornis'' is nonetheless known from a variety of skeletal elements: hindlimbs (most commonly tarso-metatarsals), forelimb elements (especially humeri), pelvises and skulls.Federico L. Agnolin (2009)"Sistemática y Filogenia de las Aves Fororracoideas (Gruiformes, Cariamae)"(PDF). Fundación de Historia Natural Felix de Azara: 1–79. ''Bathornis grallator'' is known from a mostly complete skeleton, including the skull, bearing a proportionally ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bathornithidae
Bathornithidae is an extinct family of birds from the Eocene to Miocene of North America. Part of Cariamiformes, they are related to the still extant seriemas and the extinct Phorusrhacidae. They were likely similar in habits, being terrestrial, long-legged predators, some of which attained massive sizes. It has been suggested that most, if not all, North American Paleogene cariamiforme fossils are part of this group. Storrs Olson also referred the European '' Elaphrocnemus'' to this clade, though it has since been rejected. Conversely, some analysis have instead recovered them as a polyphyletic group, with '' Bathornis'' and kin being sister taxa to phorusrhacids while '' Paracrax'' is rendered closer to modern seriemas, though this assessment is heavily debated. The most recent consensus is that Bathornithidae is relegated exclusively to '' Bathornis'', as a clade of Cariamiformes outside of a clade including seriemas and phorusrhacids, as well as a possible European specime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phorusrhacids
Phorusrhacids, colloquially known as terror birds, are an extinct family of large carnivorous, mostly flightless birds that were among the largest apex predators in South America during the Cenozoic era. Their definitive fossil records range from the Middle Eocene to the Late Pleistocene around , though some specimens suggest that they were present since the Early Eocene. They ranged in height from . One of the largest specimens from the Early Pleistocene of Uruguay, possibly belonging to '' Devincenzia'', would have weighed up to . Their closest modern-day relatives are believed to be the seriemas. '' Titanis walleri'', one of the larger species, is known from Texas and Florida in North America. This makes the phorusrhacids the only known large South American predator to migrate north in the Great American Interchange that followed the formation of the Isthmus of Panama land bridge (the main pulse of the interchange began about 2.6 Ma ago; ''Titanis'' at 5 Ma was an early northwa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Eocene
The Priabonian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS's geologic timescale, the latest age (geology), age or the upper stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Eocene epoch (geology), Epoch or series (stratigraphy), Series. It spans the time between . The Priabonian is preceded by the Bartonian and is followed by the Rupelian, the lowest stage of the Oligocene. ''Priabona florissantius, Priabona'', an extinct dipteran of Pipunculidae family, is named after Priabonian, the age of deposits from which this insect is known. History and naming The Priabonian Stage was introduced in scientific literature by Ernest Munier-Chalmas and Albert de Lapparent in 1893. The stage is named after the small hamlet of Priabona (Monte di Malo), Priabona in the community of Monte di Malo, in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Stratigraphic definition The base of the Priabonian Stage is at the first appearance datum, first appearance of calcareous nannoplankton species ''Chiasmolithus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acta Palaeontologica Polonica
''Acta Palaeontologica Polonica'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed open access scientific journal of paleontology and paleobiology. It was established by Roman Kozłowski in 1956. It is published by the Institute of Paleobiology of the Polish Academy of Sciences and edited by Richard L. Cifelli and Jarosław Stolarski. Abstracting and indexing ''Acta Palaeontologica Polonica'' is abstracted and indexed in: According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal has a 2010 impact factor The impact factor (IF) or journal impact factor (JIF) of an academic journal is a type of journal ranking. Journals with higher impact factor values are considered more prestigious or important within their field. The Impact Factor of a journa ... of 1.949, ranking it 11th out of 48 journals in the category "Paleontology". References External links * Institute of Paleobiology Paleontology journals Academic journals established in 1956 Polish Academy of Sciences academic journal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gruiformes
The Gruiformes ( ) are an order containing a considerable number of living and extinct bird families, with a widespread geographical diversity. Gruiform means "crane-like". Traditionally, a number of wading and terrestrial bird families that did not seem to belong to any other order were classified together as Gruiformes. These include 15 species of large cranes, about 145 species of smaller crakes and rails, as well as a variety of families comprising one to three species, such as the Heliornithidae, the limpkin, or the Psophiidae. Other birds have been placed in this order more out of necessity to place them ''somewhere''; this has caused the expanded Gruiformes to lack distinctive apomorphies. Recent studies indicate that these "odd Gruiformes" are if at all only loosely related to the cranes, rails, and relatives ("core Gruiformes"). Systematics There are only two suprafamilial clades (natural groups) among the birds traditionally classified as Gruiformes. Rails ( Ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parrots
Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in tropics, tropical and subtropics, subtropical regions. The four families are the Psittaculidae (Old World parrots), Psittacidae (African and New World parrots), Cacatuidae (cockatoos), and Strigopidae (New Zealand parrots). One-third of all parrot species are threatened by extinction, with a higher aggregate extinction risk (Red List Index, IUCN Red List Index) than any other comparable bird group. Parrots have a generally pantropical distribution with several species inhabiting temperateness, temperate regions as well. The greatest biodiversity, diversity of parrots is in South America and Australasia. Parrotsalong with Corvidae, ravens, crows, jays, and magpiesare among the most #Intelligence and learning, intelligent birds, and the abil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Passerines
A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their toes (three pointing forward and one back), which facilitates perching. With more than 140 families and some 6,500 identified species, Passeriformes is the largest order of birds and one of the most diverse clades of terrestrial vertebrates, representing 60% of birds.Ericson, P.G.P. et al. (2003Evolution, biogeography, and patterns of diversification in passerine birds ''J. Avian Biol'', 34:3–15.Selvatti, A.P. et al. (2015"A Paleogene origin for crown passerines and the diversification of the Oscines in the New World" ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'', 88:1–15. Passerines are divided into three suborders: New Zealand wrens; Suboscines, primarily found in North and South America; and songbirds. Passerines originated in the Sou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Falcons
Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons have thin, tapered wings, which enable them to fly at high speed and change direction rapidly. Fledgling falcons, in their first year of flying, have longer flight feathers, which make their configuration more like that of a general-purpose bird such as a broadwing. This makes flying easier while still learning the aerial skills required to be effective hunters like the adults. The falcons are the largest genus in the Falconinae subfamily of Falconidae, which also includes two other subfamilies comprising caracaras and a few other species of "falcons". All these birds kill prey with their beaks, using a tom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australaves
Australaves is a clade of birds, defined in 2012, consisting of the Eufalconimorphae (passerines, parrots and falcons) as well as the Cariamiformes (including seriemas and the extinct "terror birds"). They appear to be the sister group of Afroaves. This clade was defined in the ''PhyloCode'' by George Sangster and colleagues in 2022 as "the least inclusive crown clade containing ''Cariama cristata'' and ''Passer domesticus''". The clade's name, meaning 'southern birds', reflects the group's evolutionary origins in the Southern Hemisphere: passerines and parrots in Australia, and falcons and seriemas in South America. As in the case of Afroaves, the most Basal (phylogenetics), basal clades have predatory extant members, suggesting this was the ancestral lifestyle; however, some researchers like Darren Naish are skeptical of this assessment, since some extinct representatives such as the herbivorous ''Strigogyps'' led other lifestyles. Basal parrots and falcons are at any rate vagu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Idiornithidae
Idiornithidae is an extinct family of Cariamiformes Cariamiformes (or Cariamae) is an order of primarily flightless birds that has existed for over 50 million years. The group includes the family Cariamidae (seriemas) and the extinct families such as Phorusrhacidae, Bathornithidae, Idiornithid .... Fossils of these birds were found mainly in the phosphorus layers of Quercy in south-western France. Other specimens have been found throughout Germany as well. Description The Idiornithidae were medium-sized birds with slender, long legs. Several postcranial bones of the genera ''Gypsornis'' and ''Idiornis'' have been found, with only one species leaving behind an articulated skeleton with the skull intact. The limited fossil evidence suggested that Idiornithidae much resembled seriemas. They were, however, smaller, some of them the size of the average pheasant. Until recently, idiornithids were commonly regarded as a suborder of the Gruiformes, but they are now classified as C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strigogyps
''Strigogyps'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bird from the Middle Eocene to Early Oligocene of France and Germany. It was probably around the size of a large chicken or a guan, weighing not quite . Apparently, as indicated by the ratio of lengths of wing to leg bones, ''S. sapea'' was flightless. Its legs were not adapted to running, so it seems to have had a walking lifestyle similar to trumpeters. Unlike other Cariamiformes which appear to have been mostly carnivorous, the specimens of one species, ''Strigogyps sapea'', suggest a facultatively herbivorous or omnivorous diet. The type species of ''Strigogyps'' is ''S. dubius'', which was described by Gaillard in 1908. It was initially placed in the owl order Strigiformes and considered to be a sophiornithid. ''S. dubius'' is based on a single tibiotarsus from the Late Eocene to Early Oligocene Quercy phosphorites of France. This tibiotarsus was destroyed in World War II during the bombing of Munich, but casts remain. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
