''Masillaraptor'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

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 ...

of masillaraptorid, a groups basal falconiforms, from the

Middle Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', "dawn ...

Messel Pit The Messel pit (german: Grube Messel) is a disused quarry near the village of Messel (Landkreis Darmstadt-Dieburg, Hesse) about southeast of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Bituminous shale was mined there. Because of its abundance of well-preserved ...

, Germany. It is a long-legged relative of the living

falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

Known species

Only one species of ''Masillaraptor'' is known: ''M. parvunguis''

Etymology

''Masillaraptor'' comes from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word ''Masilla'', which is the old name for the town of Messel, and ''raptor'' is a New Latin suffix used to indicate a predator (from ''rapere, to catch'') and in English it means ''bird of prey''. Specific epithet ''parvunguis'' is also Latin, coming from the word ''parvus'' which means small and feeble, while ''unguis'' means claw. The name refers to the fact that the specimen's claws are small in comparison to those of other raptors.

Characteristics

The

''Masillaraptor'' is different from all other known avian

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

. It possesses a combination of characters that distinguishes it from all others. 1. The beak is almost as long as the cranium itself, with equal height over much of its length and a straight dorsal ridge. The beak curves just before its tip, restricting the nasal openings to the rear half of the beak. 2. The

tibiotarsus The tibiotarsus is the large bone between the femur and the tarsometatarsus in the leg of a bird. It is the fusion of the proximal part of the tarsus with the tibia. A similar structure also occurred in the Mesozoic Heterodontosauridae. These sm ...

is the longest bone in the leg. 3. On the second toe the first phalanx is shortened, whereas on the fourth toe the second and third phalanges are shortened. 4. The claws of ''Masillaraptor'' are small and weak compared to other

falconiform The falcons and caracaras are around 60 species of diurnal birds of prey that make up the family Falconidae (representing all extant species in the order Falconiformes). The family is divided into three subfamilies, Herpetotherinae, which inclu ...

birds with abbreviated pedal phalanges. Characters (1) and (3) are derived within neornithine birds and also found in modern Accipitres, from which ''Masillaraptor'' is, however, distinguished in character (4).(Mayr, 2006.)

Fossil specimens

There are two specimens of ''Masillaraptor''. Only one specimen was referenced for classification because the other is housed in an unknown private collection. Both specimens are a slab of rock containing a nearly complete, articulate but poorly preserved skeleton. The specimens are both believed to be adult members of the species. Both specimens were discovered in the Messel pit, an old shale mine known for the extremely well preserved fossils that have been discovered there. It is hoped that more specimens will be discovered and more will be learned about these prehistoric birds.

Classification

''Masillaraptor'' represents one of two members of Masillaraptoridae within the Falconiformes. The

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to d ...

below displays the results of the

phylogenetic analysis In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

by Mayr & Kitchener (2022):

References

External links

dinowebFalconiformesExplore Birds of Prey
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2473105 Eocene birds Falconiformes Prehistoric birds of Europe Fossil taxa described in 2006