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Lithornithiformes
Lithornithidae is an extinct, possibly paraphyletic (but see below) group of early paleognath birds. They are known from fossils dating to the Upper Paleocene through the Middle Eocene of North America and Europe, with possible Late Cretaceous representatives. All are extinct today; the youngest specimen is the currently unnamed SGPIMH MEV1 specimen from the mid-Eocene Messel Pit site. Lithornithids had long, slender, bills for probing. They closely resembled modern tinamous. They possessed a rhynchokinetic skull with relatively unfused cranial bones, a weakly fused pygostyle and a splenial. The unguals were more curved than in tinamous and probably allowed better perching in trees. The order Lithornithiformes was erected by Dr. Peter Houde in 1988. Initially, only three genera (''Lithornis'', ''Paracathartes'', and ''Pseudocrypturus'') and eight named species were included. ''Promusophaga'' (Harrison & Walker, 1977) originally considered a stem-turaco, is considered synonymou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paleognathae
Palaeognathae (; ) is a infraclass of birds, called paleognaths, within the class Aves of the clade Archosauria. It is one of the two extant infraclasses of birds, the other being Neognathae, both of which form Neornithes. Palaeognathae contains five extant branches of flightless lineages (plus two extinct clades), termed ratites, and one flying lineage, the Neotropic tinamous.Wetmore, A. (1960) A Classification for Birds of the World. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collection (Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution) 139: 1–37. There are 47 species of tinamous, five of kiwis (''Apteryx''), three of cassowaries (''Casuarius''), one of emus (''Dromaius'') (another became extinct in historic times), two of rheas (''Rhea'') and two of ostrich (''Struthio'').Clements, J. C. ''et al''. (2010) Recent research has indicated that paleognaths are monophyletic but the traditional taxonomic split between flightless and flighted forms is incorrect; tinamous are within the ratite radiation, me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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'' are known with certainty from the Upper Paleocene through the Middle Eocene, but their fossil record may extend to the late Cretaceous. "''Lithornis''" is from ancient Greek for "stone bird", as it is one of the first fossil birds to become widely discussed. Presumably closely related genera are ''Paracathartes'' and '' Pseudocrypturus''. Species Six species have been recognized in modern times; undescribed ones are also likely to exist. The supposed tarsometatarsus piece from which ''"Lithornis" emuinus'' was described is actually a humerus fragment of the giant pseudotooth bird ''Dasornis''.Houde, P. (1988) ''Lithornis celetius'' ''L. celetius'' is from the Bangtail Quarry, Sedan Quadrangle, Park County, Montana, USA, and was describe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paracathartes
''Paracathartes'' is a genus of extinct bird from the Wasachtian horizon of lower Eocene Wyoming. One species, ''Paracathartes howardae'' has been described. It is a paleognathous bird, turkey-like in stature and size, that probably resembled a tinamou quite closely. ''Paracathartes'' was described by Harrison as the earliest known cathartid vulture. Rich criticized this assignment.Rich, P. V. (1983) Houde (1988) included it as a member of the order Lithornithiformes and family Lithornithidae.Houde, Peter W. (1988) The holotype specimen is in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum. It has catalog number ROM 22658. It is the distal end of a left tibiotarsus. It was collected by G. E. Lindblad and G. Sternberg on 4 August 1949. It was found at the northernmost branch of Elk Creek, near Basin, Wyoming. The horizon is Greybullian, middle Wasatchian (early Eocene), Willwood Formation, Bighorn Basin. Further specimens of ''Paracathartes'' were collected, including almost the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lithornis Hookeri
''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'' are known with certainty from the Upper Paleocene through the Middle Eocene, but their fossil record may extend to the late Cretaceous. "''Lithornis''" is from ancient Greek for "stone bird", as it is one of the first fossil birds to become widely discussed. Presumably closely related genera are ''Paracathartes'' and '' Pseudocrypturus''. Species Six species have been recognized in modern times; undescribed ones are also likely to exist. The supposed tarsometatarsus piece from which ''"Lithornis" emuinus'' was described is actually a humerus fragment of the giant pseudotooth bird ''Dasornis''.Houde, P. (1988) ''Lithornis celetius'' ''L. celetius'' is from the Bangtail Quarry, Sedan Quadrangle, Park County, Montana, USA, and was describe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lithornis Nasi
''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'' are known with certainty from the Upper Paleocene through the Middle Eocene, but their fossil record may extend to the late Cretaceous. "''Lithornis''" is from ancient Greek for "stone bird", as it is one of the first fossil birds to become widely discussed. Presumably closely related genera are ''Paracathartes'' and '' Pseudocrypturus''. Species Six species have been recognized in modern times; undescribed ones are also likely to exist. The supposed tarsometatarsus piece from which ''"Lithornis" emuinus'' was described is actually a humerus fragment of the giant pseudotooth bird ''Dasornis''.Houde, P. (1988) ''Lithornis celetius'' ''L. celetius'' is from the Bangtail Quarry, Sedan Quadrangle, Park County, Montana, USA, and was describe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lithornis Promiscuus
''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'' are known with certainty from the Upper Paleocene through the Middle Eocene, but their fossil record may extend to the late Cretaceous. "''Lithornis''" is from ancient Greek for "stone bird", as it is one of the first fossil birds to become widely discussed. Presumably closely related genera are ''Paracathartes'' and '' Pseudocrypturus''. Species Six species have been recognized in modern times; undescribed ones are also likely to exist. The supposed tarsometatarsus piece from which ''"Lithornis" emuinus'' was described is actually a humerus fragment of the giant pseudotooth bird ''Dasornis''.Houde, P. (1988) ''Lithornis celetius'' ''L. celetius'' is from the Bangtail Quarry, Sedan Quadrangle, Park County, Montana, USA, and was describe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lithornis Plebius
''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'' are known with certainty from the Upper Paleocene through the Middle Eocene, but their fossil record may extend to the late Cretaceous. "''Lithornis''" is from ancient Greek for "stone bird", as it is one of the first fossil birds to become widely discussed. Presumably closely related genera are ''Paracathartes'' and '' Pseudocrypturus''. Species Six species have been recognized in modern times; undescribed ones are also likely to exist. The supposed tarsometatarsus piece from which ''"Lithornis" emuinus'' was described is actually a humerus fragment of the giant pseudotooth bird ''Dasornis''.Houde, P. (1988) ''Lithornis celetius'' ''L. celetius'' is from the Bangtail Quarry, Sedan Quadrangle, Park County, Montana, USA, and was describe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lithornis Celetius
''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'' are known with certainty from the Upper Paleocene through the Middle Eocene, but their fossil record may extend to the late Cretaceous. "''Lithornis''" is from ancient Greek for "stone bird", as it is one of the first fossil birds to become widely discussed. Presumably closely related genera are ''Paracathartes'' and '' Pseudocrypturus''. Species Six species have been recognized in modern times; undescribed ones are also likely to exist. The supposed tarsometatarsus piece from which ''"Lithornis" emuinus'' was described is actually a humerus fragment of the giant pseudotooth bird ''Dasornis''.Houde, P. (1988) ''Lithornis celetius'' ''L. celetius'' is from the Bangtail Quarry, Sedan Quadrangle, Park County, Montana, USA, and was describe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Promusophaga
''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'' are known with certainty from the Upper Paleocene through the Middle Eocene, but their fossil record may extend to the late Cretaceous. "''Lithornis''" is from ancient Greek for "stone bird", as it is one of the first fossil birds to become widely discussed. Presumably closely related genera are ''Paracathartes'' and '' Pseudocrypturus''. Species Six species have been recognized in modern times; undescribed ones are also likely to exist. The supposed tarsometatarsus piece from which ''"Lithornis" emuinus'' was described is actually a humerus fragment of the giant pseudotooth bird ''Dasornis''.Houde, P. (1988) ''Lithornis celetius'' ''L. celetius'' is from the Bangtail Quarry, Sedan Quadrangle, Park County, Montana, USA, and was describe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
