''Gerandibis'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

ibis The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...

known from fossil remains from early

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

(Aquitanian) beds in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It contains a single species, ''Gerandibis pagana'', which was originally described by Milne-Edwards in 1868 as ''Ibis pagana''. Richard Sharpe classified it in the genus ''

Eudocimus ''Eudocimus'' is a genus of ibises, wading birds of the family Threskiornithidae. They occur in the warmer parts of the New World with representatives from the southern United States south through Central America, the West Indies, and South Amer ...

'', but Storrs L. Olson placed it in the genus ''

Plegadis ''Plegadis'' is a bird genus in the family Threskiornithidae. The genus name derives from Ancient Greek ''plegados'', "sickle", referring to the distinctive shape of the bill. Member species are found on every continent except Antarctica as well ...

'' due to anatomical similarities closer to that genus. The ibises of the genus ''Plegadis'' have two natural foramina (holes) in the intertrochlear groove in the distal section of the

tarsometatarsus The tarsometatarsus is a bone that is only found in the lower leg of birds and some non-avian dinosaurs. It is formed from the fusion of several bones found in other types of animals, and homologous to the mammalian tarsus (ankle bones) and meta ...

, where as ibises of ''Eudocimus'' (and many other species of bird) have one small foramen. ''P. paganus'' has two small holes akin to living species of ''Plegadis''. The species was eventually made the type species of a separate genus ''Gerandibis'' by Vanesa L. De Pietri (2013).

References

Plegadis {{Pelecaniformes-stub