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Leakeyornis
''Leakeyornis'' is an extinct genus of flamingo from the early to middle Miocene of Kenya, primarily in the area of modern day Lake Victoria. Initially described as a species of ''Phoenicopterus'' based on an incomplete skull and various limb bones, it was later found to show a mixture of traits found across modern flamingo genera and subsequently placed in its own genus. It contains a single species, ''Leakeyornis aethiopicus''. History and naming Various fossils of ''Leakeyornis'' were collected by Louis Leakey from Miocene strata of Lake Victoria and later given to the Natural History Museum, London. These remains were first named by Harrison and Walker in 1976 as a species of ''Phoenicopterus'', ''Phoenicopterus aethiopicus''. This description was based on the holotype specimen BMNH A 4382, which represents the back of a beak, while a lower jaw fragment and various appendicular skeleton, appendicular bones were designated as the paratypes. In the years following this publicat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flamingo
Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of Wader, wading bird in the Family (biology), family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbean), and two species native to Afro-Eurasia. A group of flamingoes is called a "flamboyance." Etymology The name ''flamingo'' comes from Portuguese language, Portuguese or Spanish language, Spanish ("flame-colored"), which in turn comes from Old Occitan, Provençal – a combination of ("flame") and a Germanic-like suffix ''wikt:-ing#Etymology 3, -ing''. The word may also have been influenced by the Spanish ethnonym ("Fleming" or "Flemish"). The name of the genus, ''Phoenicopterus'', is from the Greek , ); other genera names include ''Lesser flamingo, Phoeniconaias,'' which means "crimson/red Naiad, water nymph (or naiad)", and ''Phoenicoparrus,'' which means "crimson/red bird (though, an unknown bird of om ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phoenicopteridae
Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbean), and two species native to Afro-Eurasia. A group of flamingoes is called a "flamboyance." Etymology The name ''flamingo'' comes from Portuguese or Spanish ("flame-colored"), which in turn comes from Provençal – a combination of ("flame") and a Germanic-like suffix ''-ing''. The word may also have been influenced by the Spanish ethnonym ("Fleming" or "Flemish"). The name of the genus, ''Phoenicopterus'', is from the Greek , ); other genera names include ''Phoeniconaias,'' which means "crimson/red water nymph (or naiad)", and ''Phoenicoparrus,'' which means "crimson/red bird (though, an unknown bird of omen)". Taxonomy and systematics The family Phoenicopteridae was introduced by the French zoologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hiwegi Formation
The Hiwegi Formation is a geological formation on Rusinga Island in Kenya preserving fossils dating to the Early Miocene period. The Hiwegi Formation is known for the well preserved plant fossils it preserves, which indicate a tropical forest environment that underwent wet and dry periods. The middle members of the formation in particular indicate a brief period in which conditions were notably dryer with a more open environment compared to older and younger units. Some of the formation's fauna, such as an early ancestor of the modern aye-aye and a chameleon of the genus ''Calumma'', link Miocene East Africa to modern day Madagascar. History The first discovery of fossil material by western researchers was documented in the early 20th century in the form of a British colonial report on the East Africa Protectorate. Excavations for fossils began in the 1930s with the work of Louis Leakey, followed by the British-Kenya Miocene Expedition. A major factor in the exploration of Rusing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prehistoric Bird Genera
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of symbols, marks, and images appears very early among humans, but the earliest known writing systems appeared 5000 years ago. It took thousands of years for writing systems to be widely adopted, with writing spreading to almost all cultures by the 19th century. The end of prehistory therefore came at very different times in different places, and the term is less often used in discussing societies where prehistory ended relatively recently. In the early Bronze Age, Sumer in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley Civilisation, and ancient Egypt were the first civilizations to develop their own scripts and to keep historical records, with their neighbors following. Most other civilizations reached the end of prehistory during the following Iron Age. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phoenicopterus Copei
''Phoenicopterus copei'' is an extinct species of flamingo that inhabited North America during the Late Pleistocene. Its fossils have been discovered in Oregon, California, Mexico and Florida. Many of these localities preserve the remains of juvenile individuals, indicating that this species nested at the lakes found there. In some areas like California and Florida it coexisted with smaller flamingo species. ''P. copei'' was a large species of ''Phoenicopterus'', described as being greater in size than modern American flamingos. History Although multiple flamingo species are known from North America today, ''Phoenicopterus copei'' was the first fossil taxon of this family described. The species was erected by Robert Wilson Shufeldt in 1891 based on remains discovered at Fossil Lake, Oregon. In 1955 Hildegarde Howard described the remains of two differently sized flamingos from Lake Manix in California, assigning the smaller remains to a new species and the larger to ''Phoenicopte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phoenicopterus Novaehollandiae
''Phoenicopterus novaehollandiae'' is an extinct species of flamingo from the late Oligocene or early Miocene Etadunna Formation of Australia. It was a large species similar in size to large specimens of the modern greater flamingo, but differs by likely having had a much better developed hallux which is typically reduced or absent in modern flamingos. History and naming ''Phoenicopterus novaehollandiae'' was named based on a single tarsometatarsus that retains a nearly complete distal end and approximately 95% of the shaft. The bone was discovered in a layer of mudstone that is part of the Etadunna Formation, southeast of Lake Pitikanta within the Lake Eyre basin. Description The general anatomy of the holotype tarsometatarsus resembles that of the modern greater flamingo and American flamingo, being slender and elongated. ''P. novaehollandiae'' however differs significantly in the fact that there is a clear scar on the bone from where the first metatarsus, the first toe, would ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harrisonavis
''Harrisonavis'' is an extinct genus of flamingo that lived in the Chattian and Aquitanian epochs. It contains the single species ''Harrisonavis croizeti''. The holotype, a skull, was discovered in France in 1852. Description and taxonomy Although first reported in 1852 by paleontologist Paul Gervais, the fossil was not described in detail and was lost. Several fragments of bills were attributed to ''Harrisonavis'' in the subsequent years. In 2015, another skull (specimen ML StG 203bis) was discovered in Saint-Gérand-le-Puy. This skull resembles that of a modern flamingo, albeit with a straighter beak. Based on this fossil, ''H. croizeti'' is the earliest known species of flamingo that filter feeds, and is considered to be closely related to modern flamingos. It was thus initially named as a species of the living flamingo genus ''Phoenicopterus''. Harrison and Walker, who described one bill fragment in 1976, moved it to a new genus, '' Gervaisia'', but the name was already in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mandibular Symphysis
In human anatomy, the facial skeleton of the skull the external surface of the mandible is marked in the median line by a faint ridge, indicating the mandibular symphysis (Latin: ''symphysis menti'') or line of junction where the two lateral halves of the mandible typically fuse at an early period of life (1-2 years). It is not a true symphysis as there is no cartilage between the two sides of the mandible. This ridge divides below and encloses a triangular eminence, the mental protuberance, the base of which is depressed in the center but raised on either side to form the mental tubercle. The lowest (most inferior) end of the mandibular symphysis — the point of the chin — is called the "menton". It serves as the origin for the geniohyoid and the genioglossus muscles. Other animals Solitary mammalian carnivores that rely on a powerful canine bite to subdue their prey have a strong mandibular symphysis, while pack hunters delivering shallow bites have a weaker one. When filter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phoenicoparrus
''Phoenicoparrus'' is a genus of birds in the flamingo family Phoenicopteridae. First established by Charles Lucien Bonaparte Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857), was a French naturalist and ornithologist. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal Lucien Bonaparte. Life and career ... in 1856, it contains two species. References Phoenicopteridae Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Ciconiiformes-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lesser Flamingo
The lesser flamingo (''Phoeniconaias minor'') is a species of flamingo occurring in sub-Saharan Africa and western India. Birds are occasionally reported from further north, but these are generally considered Vagrancy (biology), vagrants. Characteristics The lesser flamingo is the smallest species of flamingo, though it is a tall and large bird by most standards. The species can weigh from . The standing height is around . The total length (from beak to tail) and wingspan are in the same range of measurements, from . Most of the plumage is pinkish white. The clearest difference between this species and the greater flamingo, the only other Old World species of flamingo, is the much more extensive black on the bill. Size is less helpful unless the species are together, since the sexes of each species also differ in height. The extinct species ''Phoeniconaias proeses'' in the same genus, from the Pliocene of Australia, is thought to have been even smaller. The lesser flamingo may ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greater Flamingo
The greater flamingo (''Phoenicopterus roseus'') is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. It is found in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and in southern Europe. Taxonomy The greater flamingo was described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1811. It was previously thought to be the same species as the American flamingo (''Phoenicopterus ruber''), but because of coloring differences of its head, neck, body, and bill, the two flamingos are now most commonly considered separate species. The greater flamingo has no subspecies. Description The greater flamingo is the largest living species of flamingo, averaging tall and weighing . The largest male flamingos have been recorded at up to tall and . Most of the plumage is pinkish-white, but the wing coverts are red and the primary and secondary flight feathers are black. The bill is pink with a restricted black tip, and the legs are entirely pink. The call is a goose-like honking. Chicks are cover ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
-_Breeding_plumage_W2_IMG_8770.jpg "Click for more on -> Flamingo")
