''Dynamopterus velox'' is a prehistoric
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
, known from a single large right humerus recovered in France. The humerus shares anatomical features with living
cuckoo
Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separat ...
s (though it is much larger). It has also been classified in the suborder Cariamae in the Gruiformes.
References
Oligocene birds
Cenozoic birds of Europe
Paleogene France
Fossils of France
Quercy Phosphorites Formation
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