|
Bathornithids
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 speci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paracrax
''Paracrax'' ("near curassow") is a genus of extinct North American flightless birds, possibly related to modern seriemas and the extinct terror birds. Part of Bathornithidae (though some analysis recover it as closer to the living seriemas instead, or possibly entirely out of Cariamiformes), it is a specialised member of this group, being cursorial carnivores much like their South American cousins, some species attaining massive sizes. Discovery ''Paracrax antiqua'' is the genus type species. The type specimen, YPM 537, was collected in Weld County, Colorado, in 1871 by Othniel Charles Marsh, which identified it as a sort of turkey. It was posteriorly referred to Cracidae by Pierce Brodkorb, before its identity as a bathornithid came to light. Material previously identified as a cormorant, " Phalacrocorax/Oligocrocorax" ''mediterraneus'', was posteriorly identified as ''P. antiqua'' remains. Since then, two more species have been identified: ''P. wetmorei'' and ''P. g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Eutreptornis
Eutreptornis ("changing bird")is a genus of extinct possible cariamiforme bird from the Late Eocene of Utah. It is traditionally considered to be a bathornithid, though a combination of the relative incompleteness of the material alongside some differences from other bathornithids have raised some suspicions about this affiliation. Description ''Eutreptornis'' is currently represented by a single type species, ''E. uintae'', in turn represented by a tibiotarsus and tarsometatarsus from the Uinta Formation of Utah. Biology It is represented by the smallest bathornithid remains known. Due to the incompleteness of its remains it is unclear whereas it was flightless like other bathornithids. It was, however, most certainly a terrestrial predator, perhaps akin to its closest living relatives, the seriemas. Ecology ''Eutreptornis'' co-existed with a rich mammalian megafauna, such as the brontothere ''Megacerops'', as well as other terrestrial birds, including other bathornithid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phorusrhacid
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 northw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seriemas
The seriemas are the sole living members of the small bird family Cariamidae (the entire family is also referred to as "seriemas"), which is also the only surviving lineage of the order Cariamiformes. Once believed to be related to cranes, they have been placed near the falcons, parrots, and passerines, as well as the extinct Phorusrhacidae (terror birds).Hackett, S. J. ''et al''. (2008) A Phylogenomic Study of Birds Reveals Their Evolutionary History. ''Science'' 320(5884):1763–1768 The seriemas are large, long-legged territorial birds that range from in length. They live in grasslands, savanna, dry woodland and open forests of Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. There are two species of seriemas, the red-legged seriema (''Cariama cristata'') and the black-legged seriema (''Chunga burmeisteri'').del Hoyo, J. Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. (editors). (1996) ''Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 3: Hoatzin to Auks''. Lynx Edicions. Names for these birds in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elaphrocnemus
''Elaphrocnemus'' is a genus of extinct bird from the Eocene and Oligocene periods of Europe. Part of Cariamiformes, its closest living relatives are seriemas, though it differs significantly from them, being a better flyer. Classification Since its original description ''Elaphrocnemus'' has been regarded as a cariamiform bird. It was referred to the family Orthocnemidae, since them absorbed into Idiornithidae.Cécile MOURER-CHAUVIRÉ, LES GRUIFORMES (A VES) DES PHOSPHORITES DU QUERCY (FRANCE). 1. SOUS-ORDRE CARIAMAE (CARIAMIDAE ET PHORUSRHACIDAE). SYSTÉMATIQUE ET BIOSTRATIGRAPHIE. However, relationships within Cariamiformes are unresolved, as several studies render Idiornithidae as polyphyletic, with ''Elaphrocnemus'' recovered away from other "idiornithids", outside of the clade leading to them and modern seriemas. Some authorities renders the genus a synonym of '' Talantatos'', though some recent studies recover it as independent from this genus. A possibly closely related ... [...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] |
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] |
Miocene Birds
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern marine invertebrates than the Pliocene has. The Miocene followed the Oligocene and preceded the Pliocene. As Earth went from the Oligocene through the Miocene and into the Pliocene, the climate slowly cooled towards a series of ice ages. The Miocene boundaries are not marked by distinct global events but by regionally defined transitions from the warmer Oligocene to the cooler Pliocene Epoch. During the Early Miocene, Afro-Arabia collided with Eurasia, severing the connection between the Mediterranean and Indian Oceans, and allowing the interchange of fauna between Eurasia and Africa, including the dispersal of proboscideans and hominoids into Eurasia. During the late Miocene, the connections between th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paleogene Birds Of North America
The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the first period of the Cenozoic Era, the tenth period of the Phanerozoic and is divided into the Paleocene, Eocene, and Oligocene epochs. The earlier term Tertiary Period was used to define the time now covered by the Paleogene Period and subsequent Neogene Period; despite no longer being recognized as a formal stratigraphic term, "Tertiary" still sometimes remains in informal use. Paleogene is often abbreviated "Pg", although the United States Geological Survey uses the abbreviation "" for the Paleogene on the Survey's geologic maps. Much of the world's modern vertebrate diversity originated in a rapid surge of diversification in the early Paleogene, as survivors of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event took advantage of empty ecologica ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oligocene Birds
The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the epoch are slightly uncertain. The name Oligocene was coined in 1854 by the German paleontologist Heinrich Ernst Beyrich from his studies of marine beds in Belgium and Germany. The name comes from Ancient Greek (''olígos'') 'few' and (''kainós'') 'new', and refers to the sparsity of extant forms of molluscs. The Oligocene is preceded by the Eocene Epoch and is followed by the Miocene Epoch. The Oligocene is the third and final epoch of the Paleogene Period. The Oligocene is often considered an important time of transition, a link between the archaic world of the tropical Eocene and the more modern ecosystems of the Miocene. Major changes during the Oligocene included a global expansion of gra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
