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Septencoracias Morsensis
''Septencoracias'' is an extinct genus of bird related to modern rollers and other Coraciiformes such as kingfishers, bee-eaters, motmots, and todies. It contains one species, ''Septencoracias morsensis''. It was found in the Fur Formation of Denmark, dating back to the Ypresian of the Lower Eocene Epoch, about 54 million years ago. ''Septencoracias'' is one of the earliest known members of Coraciiformes, lending insight into the earliest radiation of this group. Description ''Septencoracias'' was a small bird the size of a Northern carmine bee-eater, ''Merops nubicus'', about 25 cm in length. It had a large skull in comparison to its body, about twice the length of the humerus. It is much larger than modern day rollers and its sister taxon ''Primobucco'', more similar in size and proportion to kingfishers, motmots, and bee-eaters. It had a stout, slightly curved beak, and the upper ridge of the beak curves gradually towards the tip of the bill like in living roller speci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', "dawn") and (''kainós'', "new") and refers to the "dawn" of modern ('new') fauna that appeared during the epoch. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Paleocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the Eocene is marked by a brief period in which the concentration of the carbon isotope Carbon-13, 13C in the atmosphere was exceptionally low in comparison with the more common isotope Carbon-12, 12C. The end is set at a major extinction event called the ''Grande Coupure'' (the "Great Break" in continuity) or the Eocene–Oligocene extinction event, which may be related to the impact of one or more large bolides in Popigai impact structure, Siberia and in what is now ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
