''Fissuravis'' ("fissure bird") is a genus of

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 ...

bird from 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), ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. A lithornithid, it was closely related to modern

ratites Ratites () are a polyphyletic group consisting of all birds within the infraclass Palaeognathae that lack keel (bird anatomy), keels and flightless bird, cannot fly. They are mostly large, long-necked, and long-legged, the exception being the Kiw ...

, but it was a capable flyer.Gerald Mayr, The Birds from the Paleocene Fissure Filling of Walbeck (Germany), Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27(2):394–408, June 2007

Ecology

Hailing from the Walbeck Paleocene deposits, it is found amidst a rich avian fauna, which also included the gigantic '' Gastornis'' and the enigmatic ratite '' Remiornis''. Like most lithornithids, it was probably a very competent flyer, its coracoid remnants suggesting powerful flight musculature, and it likely engaged in a similar style of soaring flight to ''

Lithornis ''Lithornis'' is a genus of extinct paleognathous birds. Although ''Lithornis'' was able to fly well, their closest relatives are the extant tinamous (which are poor flyers) and ratites (which are flightless birds). Fossils of ''Lithornis'' ar ...

'' and ''

Pseudocrypturus ''Pseudocrypturus'' is a genus of extinct paleognathous bird. Three species are known and the type species is ''Pseudocrypturus cercanaxius''. It is a relative of such modern birds as ostriches. It lived in the early Eocene. The holotype fossil ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q23305166 Prehistoric bird genera Lithornithidae Paleogene birds of Europe Paleocene birds Cenozoic birds of Europe Fauna of Germany