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Morsoravidae
Morsoravidae is a family of extinct birds known from the Early Eocene of Europe and North America, related to the Psittacopasseres, the clade containing parrots and songbirds. They have specialised feeding ecologies, and one morsoravid, '' Pumiliornis tesselatus'', fed on nectar. The family contains the genera '' Morsoravis'', '' Pumiliornis'', and ''Sororavis''. Description Common to the Morsoravidae is a distinctive morphology of the tarsometatarsus. The trochlea of the second and fourth metatarsals are distinct, and the fourth metatarsal trochlea is slanted in a way that strongly suggests that morsoravids were at least facultatively zygodactyl. The second metatarsal trochlea is characterised by large size (compared to Psittacopedidae and Zygodactylidae) and a cylindrical shape that allows little rotational movement of the toe. These adaptations are thought to improve these birds' climbing ability. One morsoravid, a 47-million year old specimen of ''Pumiliornis tesselatus'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sororavis
''Sororavis'' is an extinct genus of bird from the Early Eocene London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze, United Kingdom. It contains a single named species, ''Sororavis solitarius''. It is a member of the Morsoravidae. Discovery and naming The holotype of ''Sororavis'', NMS.Z.2021.40.75, was discovered in 1986 by the late Michael Daniels, a fossil collector who also collected other specimens of Early Eocene zygodactyl birds and numerous other birds. The fossil was collected from the Walton Member of the London Clay, of lower Ypresian age (between 54.6 and 55 million years old), near the town of Walton-on-the-Naze. It consists of the tip of an upper beak, fragments of the mandible, the coracoids, parts of the furcula and sternum, portions of the humerus, humeri and an ulna, portions of the tibiotarsus, tibiotarsi and tarsometatarsus, tarsometatarsi, and several phalanges. Mayr & Kitchener (2023) named the new genus and species ''Sororavis solitarius'' based on these remains, also ere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morsoravis
''Morsoravis'' is an extinct genus of neoavian bird from the Early Eocene Fur Formation of Denmark. It contains a single named species, ''Morsoravis sedilis''. Fossils of Morsoravis have also been found in the Green River Formation of Wyoming and possibly the Nanjemoy Formation of Virginia. Discovery and naming The holotype of ''Morsoravis'', MGUH 28930, consists of a complete but fully articulated and three-dimensionally preserved skeleton, found in the marine Fur Formation of Denmark. There are several fish bones preserved within the body of the bird, although there are also other fish fossils surrounding the specimen. The fossil was collected from a site on the northwestern corner of the island of Mors, at the base of a cliff. Although ''Morsoravis'' belongs to its own family, Morsoravidae, and is related to the Psittacopedidae, it was first formally described as a relative of the Charadriiformes by Bertelli ''et al.'' in 2010. Before that, it had been the subject of researc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psittacopedidae
Psittacopedidae is an extinct family of birds related to passerines. It had zygodactyl feet, likely due to common ancestry with parrot 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 ...s, the closest living relatives of passerines. References Prehistoric bird families Neognathae {{Improve categories, date=December 2024 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eocene Birds
The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''Ēṓs'', 'Dawn') and (''kainós'', "new") and refers to the "dawn" of modern ('new') fauna that appeared during the epoch.See: *Letter from William Whewell to Charles Lyell dated 31 January 1831 in: * From p. 55: "The period next antecedent we shall call Eocene, from ήως, aurora, and χαινος, recens, because the extremely small proportion of living species contained in these strata, indicates what may be considered the first commencement, or ''dawn'', of the existing state of the animate creation." The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Paleocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the Eocene is marked by a brief period in which the concentration of the carbon isotope 13C in the atmosphere was exceptionally low in co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Clay
The London Clay Formation is a Sediment#Shores and shallow seas, marine formation (geology), geological formation of Ypresian (early Eocene Epoch, c. 54-50 million years ago) age which outcrop, crops out in the southeast of England. The London Clay is well known for its fossil content. The fossils from the lower Eocene rocks indicate a moderately warm climate, the tropical or subtropical flora. Though sea levels changed during the deposition of the clay, the habitat was generally a lush forest – perhaps like in Indonesia or East Africa today – bordering a warm, shallow ocean. The London Clay is a stiff bluish clay which becomes brown when weathered and oxidized. Nodular lumps of pyrite are frequently found in the clay layers. Pyrite was produced by microbial activity (sulfate reducing bacteria) during clay sedimentation. Once clay is exposed to atmospheric oxygen, framboidal pyrite with a great specific surface is rapidly oxidized. Acid mine drainage, Pyrite oxidation produce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Messel Pit
The Messel Formation is a Formation (geology), geologic formation in Hesse, central Germany, dating back to the Eocene Epoch (geology), epoch (about 47 Ma). Its geographic range is restricted to the Messel pit. There it unconformably overlies crystalline Variscan basement and its Permian cover (Rotliegend) as well as Eocene volcanic breccias derived from the basement rocks. The formation mainly comprises lacustrine laminated bituminous shale (‘oil shale’) renowned for its content of fossils in exceptional preservation, particularly plants, arthropods and vertebrates (e.g. ''Darwinius masillae''). Messel pit The Messel pit () is a disused quarry near the village of Messel (Landkreis Darmstadt-Dieburg, Hesse) about southeast of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Bituminous shale was mined there. Because of its abundance of well-preserved fossils of the Messel Formation dating from the middle of the Eocene, it has significant geological and scientific importance. Over 1400 taxa o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fur Formation
The Fur Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian ( Lower Eocene Epoch, c. 56.0-54.5 Ma) age which crops out in the Limfjord region of northern Denmark from Silstrup via Mors and Fur to Ertebølle, and can be seen in many cliffs and quarries in the area. The Diatomite Cliffs (''moler'' in Danish) is on the Danish list of tentative candidates for World Heritage and may become a World Heritage site. Fossils found in the Fur Formation are primarily housed at the Fossil and Mo-clay Museum on Mors Island, the Fur Museum on Fur Island, and the Natural History Museum of Denmark (formerly named Geological Museum) in Copenhagen. Geology The Fur Formation is a unit of diatomitic sediment approximately 60 meters thick consisting of diatoms and clay minerals with up to 180 layers of volcanic ash. In Danish literature the formation has informally been referred to as the ''moler'' (''Ler'' means clay). The diatomite comprises 2/3 opal tests of diatoms and 1/3 clay, interbedded ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Green River Formation
The Green River Formation is an Eocene geologic formation that records the sedimentation in a group of intermountain lakes in three basins along the present-day Green River (Colorado River), Green River in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. The sediments are deposited in very fine layers, a dark layer during the growing season and a light-hue inorganic layer in the dry season. Each pair of layers is called a varve and represents one year. The sediments of the Green River Formation present a continuous record of six million years. The mean thickness of a varve here is 0.18 mm, with a minimum thickness of 0.014 mm and maximum of 9.8 mm.Bradley, W. H. The varves and climate of the Green River epoch: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 158, pp 87–110, 1929. The sedimentary layers were formed in a large area named for the Green River, a tributary of the Colorado River. The three separate basins lie around the Uinta Mountains (north, east, and south) of northeastern Utah: * an area ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''Ēṓs'', 'Eos, Dawn') and (''kainós'', "new") and refers to the "dawn" of modern ('new') fauna that appeared during the epoch.See: *Letter from William Whewell to Charles Lyell dated 31 January 1831 in: * From p. 55: "The period next antecedent we shall call Eocene, from ήως, aurora, and χαινος, recens, because the extremely small proportion of living species contained in these strata, indicates what may be considered the first commencement, or ''dawn'', of the existing state of the animate creation." The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Paleocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the Eocene is marked by a brief period in which the concentration of the carbon isoto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mousebird
The mousebirds are birds in the order Coliiformes. They are the sister group to the clade Cavitaves, which includes the Leptosomiformes (the cuckoo roller), Trogoniformes ( trogons), Bucerotiformes ( hornbills and hoopoes), Piciformes ( woodpeckers, toucans, and barbets) and Coraciiformes ( kingfishers, bee-eaters, rollers, motmots, and todies). This group is now confined to sub-Saharan Africa, and it is the only bird order confined entirely to that continent, with the possible exception of turacos which are considered by some as the distinct order Musophagiformes, and the cuckoo roller, which is the only member of the order Leptosomiformes, and which is found in Madagascar but not mainland Africa. Mousebirds had a wider range in the Paleogene, with a widespread distribution in Europe and North America during the Paleocene. Description Mousebirds are slender greyish or brown birds with soft, hairlike body feathers. They are typically about in body length, with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nectarivore
In zoology, a nectarivore is an animal which derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of the sugar-rich nectar produced by flowering plants. Nectar as a food source presents a number of benefits as well as challenges. It is essentially a solution of (as much as 80%) the simple sugars sucrose, glucose and fructose, which are easily ingested and digested, representing a rich and efficient source of nutrition. This solution is often diluted either by the plant that produces it or by rain falling on a flower and many nectarivores possess adaptations to effectively rid themselves of any excess water ingested this way. However, nectar is an incomplete source of nutrition. While it does contain proteins and amino acids, these are found in low quantities, and it is severely deficient in minerals and vitamins. Very few organisms consume nectar exclusively over their whole life cycle, either supplementing it with other sources, particularl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zygodactylidae
Zygodactylidae is a family of extinct birds found in Europe and North America from the Eocene epoch to the Middle Miocene. First named in 1971, based on fragmentary remains of two species from Germany, a more complete description of the birds became possible in 2008 when a number of other, better-preserved fossil species were assigned to the family based on a number of shared characteristics. The name of the group comes from the presence of a zygodactyl foot, with two toes projecting forward, and two to the rear. This is the same arrangement as seen in living parrots and woodpeckers, and the zygodactylids were at one time thought to be related to the woodpecker family. More recent analyses, however, have shown that they are more likely to be the sister clade to the passerine or "perching" birds, the large clade that includes, among others, all living songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
