''Caspiodontornis'' 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 ...
of the
prehistoric
Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...
pseudotooth birds. These were probably rather close relatives of either
pelican
Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...
s and
stork
Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons and ibise ...
s, or of
waterfowl
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 i ...
, and are here placed in the
order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
...
Odontopterygiformes to account for this uncertainty.
Only a single
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
, ''Caspiodontornis kobystanicus'', is known to date. Its remains – a fairly complete skull and
beak
The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for pecking, grasping, and holding (in probing for food, eating, manipulating and ...
– were found in early
Late Oligocene
The Chattian is, in the geologic timescale
The geologic time scale or geological time scale (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth. It is a system of chronological dating that uses chronostratigraphy (the pro ...
(Chattian,
MP25-30) rocks at
Pirəkəşkül
Perekeshkul (also, Perekeşkül, Pirəkəşkül, Perekeshkul’, Perekischkjul, Perekishkyul’, and Pirekeshkyul’) is a village in the Absheron Rayon of Azerbaijan. The village forms part of the municipality of Pirəkəşkül-Qobustan.
Pere ...
(
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
). From the same deposits the supposed giant
swan
Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...
''
Guguschia nailiae'' was described earlier; it is only known from wing bones. The affiliation of ''G. nailiae'' is not known but it does not seem to be a swan; the size of its remains agrees sufficiently well with those of ''C. kobystanicus'' to indicate that they may be from a single species, to which the older name ''G. nailiae'' would apply.
[Olson (1985: p.197) Mayr (2009: pp.55,58), Mlíkovský (2009)]
References
Sources
* (2005): Osteological evidence for sister group relationship between pseudo-toothed birds (Aves: Odontopterygiformes) and waterfowls (Anseriformes). ''
Naturwissenschaften
''The Science of Nature'', formerly ''Naturwissenschaften'', is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Springer Science+Business Media covering all aspects of the natural sciences relating to questions of biological significance. I ...
'' 92(12): 586–591.
(HTML abstract
Electronic supplement(requires subscription)
* (2009): ''Paleogene Fossil Birds''. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg & New York.
* (2009): Evolution of the Cenozoic marine avifaunas of Europe. ''Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums Wien A'' 111: 357–37
PDF fulltext* (1985): The Fossil Record of Birds. ''In:'' : ''Avian Biology'' 8: 79-252
PDF fulltext
Fossil taxa described in 1982
Oligocene birds of Asia
Pelagornithidae
Prehistoric bird genera
{{Paleo-neornithine-stub