''Australornis'' (Latin: "southern bird") is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...

discovered in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It lived in the Paleocene epoch, 60.5 to 61.6 million years ago (Ma). The

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

name originates from ''australis'', Latin for "southern", and ''ornis'', the Greek word for "bird", and ''lovei'' commemorates Leigh Love, an amateur paleontologist who discovered it. ''Australornis'' is one of the oldest flying seabirds. It is also the first non- sphenisciform (penguins and allies) bird fossil discovered from New Zealand for that age. The fossil originates from an era just after the

Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event, also known as the K–T extinction, was the extinction event, mass extinction of three-quarters of the plant and animal species on Earth approximately 66 million years ago. The event cau ...

66 million years ago. The features of the bird indicate that it does not belong to any of the extant bird families, but to a precursor group or

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

which is extinct; hence it is a find of global significance with regard to the

evolution of birds The evolution of birds began in the Jurassic Period, with the earliest birds derived from a clade of theropod dinosaurs named Paraves. Birds are categorized as a Class (biology), biological class, Aves. For more than a century, the small theropod ...

. Though the fossil evidence is incomplete to substantiate phylogeny, ''Australornis'' contributes to the emerging view that the diversification of Neoaves had already begun in the earliest Paleogene. ''Australornis'' is also of zoogeographical significance, as New Zealand was much closer to

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

during the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''cre ...

and

Early Paleocene The Danian is the oldest age (geology), age or lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Paleocene Epoch or series (stratigraphy), Series, of the Paleogene Period or system (stratigraphy), System, and of the Cenozoic Era or Erathem. The beginnin ...

and it would have originated over deep waters of a warm sea off the coast of

Zealandia Zealandia (pronounced ), also known as (Māori language, Māori) or Tasmantis (from Tasman Sea), is an almost entirely submerged continent, submerged mass of continental crust in Oceania that subsided after breaking away from Gondwana 83� ...

, now a nearly submerged continent or microcontinent that sank after breaking away from Australia between 60 and 85 million years ago and on which New Zealand rests.

Discovery

The fossil was discovered in 2009 by Leigh Love in the

Paleocene The Paleocene ( ), or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), ...

Waipara Greensand of north

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

on the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

. The fossil was deposited in the

Canterbury Museum, Christchurch The Canterbury Museum is a museum located in the Christchurch Central City, central city of Christchurch, New Zealand, in the city's Cultural Precinct. The museum was established in 1867 with Julius von Haast – whose collection formed its co ...

, where it lay in museum shelves for a number of years, as earthquakes severely affected the working of the Museum staff. The fossil was described in 2014 by Dr Gerald Mayr, from the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum in

Frankfurt-am-Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, and Dr Paul Scofield of the Canterbury Museum, who published their findings in the ''Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand''.

Description

''Australornis'' grew roughly to about long, and has been likened to a pied shag in size. It is thought to have weighed between . ''Australornis'' is known from the following remains: * right

coracoid A coracoid is a paired bone which is part of the shoulder assembly in all vertebrates except therian mammals (marsupials and placentals). In therian mammals (including humans), a coracoid process is present as part of the scapula, but this is n ...

(extremitas omalis) * right

scapula The scapula (: scapulae or scapulas), also known as the shoulder blade, is the bone that connects the humerus (upper arm bone) with the clavicle (collar bone). Like their connected bones, the scapulae are paired, with each scapula on either side ...

(caudal portion) * right

humerus The humerus (; : humeri) is a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. It connects the scapula and the two bones of the lower arm, the radius (bone), radius and ulna, and consists of three sections. The humeral upper extrem ...

(less the distal end) * right

ulna The ulna or ulnar bone (: ulnae or ulnas) is a long bone in the forearm stretching from the elbow to the wrist. It is on the same side of the forearm as the little finger, running parallel to the Radius (bone), radius, the forearm's other long ...

(proximal end only) * fragments of the shaft of a

radius In classical geometry, a radius (: radii or radiuses) of a circle or sphere is any of the line segments from its Centre (geometry), center to its perimeter, and in more modern usage, it is also their length. The radius of a regular polygon is th ...

* left os carpi radiale The wing and pectoral girdle bones of this avian fossil have been found to be quite distinct. While there is not enough fossil material from ''Australornis'' to enable a phylogenetic study linking it with extant bird groups, it has been found to share certain derived characteristics with a number of modern bird taxonomic groups, namely

Procellariiformes Procellariiformes is an order (biology), order of seabirds that comprises four family (biology), families: the albatrosses, the Procellariidae, petrels and shearwaters, and two families of storm petrels. Formerly called Tubinares and still call ...

Gaviiformes Gaviiformes () is an order of aquatic birds containing the loons or divers and their closest extinct relatives. Modern gaviiformes are found in many parts of North America and northern Eurasia (Europe, Asia and debatably Africa), though prehistor ...

and

Rallidae Rails (avian family Rallidae) are a large, Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan family (biology), family of small- to medium-sized terrestrial and/or semi-amphibious birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity in its forms, and includes ...

. ''Australornis lovei'' has similarities to two fossil avians from Antarctica - the similarly-sized ''

Vegavis iaai ''Vegavis'' is a genus of extinct bird that lived in Antarctica during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous. The type and only species is ''Vegavis iaai'', representing one of the earliest known crown group birds. Initially described ...

'' (Noriega & Tambussi 1995) from the late Cretaceous (68 - 66 Ma) of

Vega Island Vega Island () is an island in Antarctica, long and wide, which is the northernmost of the James Ross Island group and lies in the west part of Erebus and Terror Gulf. It is separated from James Ross Island by Herbert Sound and from Trinit ...

, Antarctica and '' Polarornis gregorii'' (Chatterjee 2002) from the

López de Bertodano Formation The Lopez de Bertodano Formation is a geological Formation (geology), formation in the James Ross Island, James Ross archipelago of the Antarctic Peninsula. The strata date from the end of the Late Cretaceous (upper-lower Maastrichtian stage) to t ...

Seymour Island Seymour Island or Marambio Island, is an island in the chain of 16 major islands around the tip of the Graham Land on the Antarctic Peninsula. Graham Land is the closest part of Antarctica to South America. It lies within the section of the isl ...

of Antarctica. Though ''Australornis'' was found near the fossils of '' Waimanu manneringi'', the oldest fossil penguin, found in the same level of strata in Waipara and regarded to be of the same age, it lacks any morphological resemblances to penguins. In 2017 a phylogenetic study Agnolín and colleagues have found ''Australornis'' to be stem-

anseriform Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which inc ...

s along with ''

Polarornis ''Polarornis'' is a genus of prehistoric bird, possibly an Odontoanserae, anserimorph. It contains a single species ''Polarornis gregorii'', known from incomplete remains of one individual found on Seymour Island, Antarctica, in rocks which are ...

'', '' Neogaeornis'' and ''

Vegavis ''Vegavis'' is a genus of extinct bird that lived in Antarctica during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous. The type and only species is ''Vegavis iaai'', representing one of the earliest known crown group birds. Initially described ...

'' in the family Vegaviidae.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q16735964 A Paleocene birds Fossil taxa described in 2014 Extinct birds of New Zealand