''Osteodontornis'' 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 ...

seabird genus. It contains a single named species, ''Osteodontornis orri'' (Orr's bony-toothed bird, in literal translation of its

scientific name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

), which was described quite exactly one century after the first species of the Pelagornithidae (''

Pelagornis miocaenus ''Pelagornis'' is a widespread genus of prehistoric pseudotooth birds. These were probably rather close relatives of either pelicans and storks, or of waterfowl, and are here placed in the order Odontopterygiformes to account for this uncertaint ...

'') was. ''O. orri'' was named after then-recently deceased naturalist Ellison Orr. The bony-toothed or pseudotooth birds were initially believed to be related to

albatross Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacifi ...

es in the Procellariiformes, but actually they seem to be rather close relatives of either

pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...

s and

stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons an ...

s, or of waterfowl, and are here placed in the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Odontopterygiformes to account for this uncertainty. Also, their internal taxonomy is not well-resolved. An earlier-described pseudotooth bird, '' Cyphornis magnus'' from Vancouver Island (Canada), was believed to be of Eocene age but is nowadays assumed to have lived about twenty million years ago in the Early Miocene, not too long before the Clarendonian ( Middle/

Late Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million ye ...

) ''O. orri''. It may be that ''Osteodontornis'' is a

junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...

of ''Cyphornis''.

Description

With a wingspan of and a height of when on the ground, ''Osteodontornis orri'' and similar giant pseudotooth birds were the second-largest flying birds known, surpassed only by the teratorn ''

Argentavis magnificens ''Argentavis magnificens'' was among the largest flying birds ever to exist. While it is still considered the heaviest flying bird of all time, ''Argentavis'' was likely surpassed in wingspan by '' Pelagornis sandersi'' which is estimated to have ...

''. The head, from neck to bill-tip, measured about , and the

eyesocket In anatomy, the orbit is the cavity or socket of the skull in which the eye and its appendages are situated. "Orbit" can refer to the bony socket, or it can also be used to imply the contents. In the adult human, the volume of the orbit is , of ...

s were about wide. The

humerus The humerus (; ) is a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. It connects the scapula and the two bones of the lower arm, the radius and ulna, and consists of three sections. The humeral upper extremity consists of a roun ...

, though about as long as a human's, was only about wide at the shoulder end. The skull's quadrate bone measured almost at its widest and was nearly high. Like its relatives, ''O. orri'' had a stout but extremely light-boned body, feet that were presumably webbed as in its aquatic relatives, and long and probably very narrow wings resembling those of an

. Its beak made up about three-quarters of the head's length and had bony tooth-like serrations that were hollow or maybe filled with cancellous bone. The beak was so heavy the creature probably held it between its shoulders while in flight, just like modern

s do. The arrangement of its bony serrations is characteristic for this genus: one small "tooth", flanked by small points or even smaller "teeth", is placed between each pair of large ones. However, the "tooth" pattern of pseudotooth birds changed along the length of the beak, and is not considered a very reliable way to distinguish

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

. In general lifestyle, it was probably most similar to the

es, tropicbirds and frigatebirds of today, with long slender wings adapted for

soaring Soaring may refer to: * Gliding, in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes * Lift (soaring), a meteorological phenomenon used as an energy source by some aircraft and birds * ''Soaring'' (magazine), a magazine produced ...

vast distances over the open seas. Due to its size, the bird is presumed to have been an excellently adapted

dynamic soarer Dynamic soaring is a flying technique used to gain energy by repeatedly crossing the boundary between air masses of different velocity. Such zones of wind gradient are generally found close to obstacles and close to the surface, so the technique is ...

. It probably built its nest on high plateaus or similar places, where it could easily take flight by simply walking into the wind with wings spread. It was a seabird that apparently lived mainly off

squid True squid are molluscs with an elongated soft body, large eyes, eight arms, and two tentacles in the superorder Decapodiformes, though many other molluscs within the broader Neocoleoidea are also called squid despite not strictly fitting t ...

and other soft-bodied prey; the "teeth" were less saw-like than the horny serrations on the beak of the fish-eating saw-billed ducks (

Merginae The sea ducks (''Mergini'') are a tribe of the duck subfamily of birds, the Anatinae. The taxonomy of this group is incomplete. Some authorities separate the group as a subfamily, while others remove some genera. Most species within the group sp ...

), pointing straight downwards instead and in the fossils often very abraded or broken. The downward-pointing "teeth" were ideal for digging into and holding slippery, soft-skinned pelagic animals such as

cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan class Cephalopoda (Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral body symmetry, a prominent head ...

s that were probably snatched out of the water in flight or while swimming. Lightly built as it was, ''O. orri'' was probably not a good diver and may have found it impossible to dive at all. ''Osteodontornis'' is one of the pseudotooth birds of which rather comprehensive remains are known, but the lack of good fossils of most other Odontopterygiformes allows for few direct comparisons between genera. Still, the

distal Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position pro ...

of the present genus (e.g. the

Barstovian The Barstovian North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology (NALMA), typically set from 16,300,000 to 13,600,000 years BP, a period of . It is usua ...

specimen

LACM The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is the largest natural and historical museum in the western United States. Its collections include nearly 35 million specimens and artifacts and cover 4.5 billion years of history. This large coll ...

50660 from Kern County, California) can be compared to that of a smaller and older fossil tentatively assigned to '' Odontopteryx''. ''Osteodontornis'' has a wider and deeper notch between the external condyle and the ectepicondylar prominence, with the pit between these farther from the bone's end, than did the smallish

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period, geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million yea ...

species. Its quadrate bone differed from that of ''

Odontopteryx toliapica ''Odontopteryx'' is a genus of the extinct pseudotooth birds or pelagornithids. These were probably rather close relatives of either pelicans and storks, or of waterfowl, and are here placed in the order Odontopterygiformes to account for this u ...

'' in a more narrowly grooved dorsal head, and a larger and less forward-pointing orbital process. The forward center of the ventral articulation ridge extends upwards and forward, and the pterygoid process is conspicuously expanded to the upper center in ''Osteodontornis''. The socket for the quadratojugal has an intermediate position and the lateral ridge of the slender main shaft is straight and fairly thin. The quadrate of the mysterious '' Pseudodontornis longirostris'' skull (which some consider to belong in ''

Pelagornis ''Pelagornis'' is a widespread genus of prehistoric pseudotooth birds. These were probably rather close relatives of either pelicans and storks, or of waterfowl, and are here placed in the order Odontopterygiformes to account for this uncertain ...

'') is not very well preserved; it agees with ''Odontopteryx'' in a broad main shaft and with ''Osteodontornis'' in the straight main shaft ridge and its upward-directed ventral articulation ridge's forward center. Otherwise, it differs from both.

Distribution

This species is well documented from various locations of generally Miocene age, although usually by much fragmented remains due to the thin and tender bones it had. Most importantly, it was found on both sides of the North Pacific. It is not certain whether all ''Osteodontornis'' remains belong to a single species; size differences suggest that some evolution took place during the timespan in which the genus existed. Thus, some fossils are referred to ''Osteodontornis'' only, without further assigning them to this species. The type specimen of ''O. orri'', SBMNH 309, is a rather comprehensive fossil preserved mostly as imprint, with some bone pieces and even feather impressions in addition; it was found in Clarendonian (

)

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

of California (USA). Subsequently, for example in the

(

Middle Miocene The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma to 11.608 ± 0.005 Ma (million y ...

)

Round Mountain Silt The Round Mountain Silt is a geologic formation in California. It preserves fossils dating back to the Neogene period. See also * List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in California This article contains a list of fossil-bearing stratigra ...

or in Late Miocene deposits of the Monterey Formation, quite a few additional specimens dating from about the same time were found in California. Roughly contemporary specimens were described from the Haranoyan-Tozawan boundary in Japan – a complete right quadrate bone (

NSM The initialism NSM may refer to: In general culture * National Socialist Movement (disambiguation), a name used by a number of neo-Nazi organizations * New social movements, social movements which depart significantly from the conventional social ...

PV-18696) from the Middle Miocene Nagura Formation at Chichibu, Saitama, an Early Miocene right mandible piece (Mizunami Fossil Museum (MFM) 28351) found in the

Oi Formation The Oi Formation is a palaeontological formation located in the Ichishi region of Central Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and ...

Misato, Mie was a village located in Age District, Mie Prefecture, Japan. As of 2003, the village had an estimated population of 4,164 and a density of 82.77 persons per km². The total area was 50.31 km². On January 1, 2006, Misato, along with the city of ...

, and some additional material of about the same age from the Mizunami Group at Mizunami, Gifu. From the Early Miocene Nye Formation and the

Astoria Formation The Astoria Formation is a geologic formation in Oregon. It preserves fossils dating back to the Neogene period. See also *List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Oregon *Paleontology in Oregon The location of the state of Oregon Paleon ...

s of Oregon a handful of specimens that appear to be ''Osteodontornis'' are known. Similar fossils have been found in the Middle Miocene apadare Formation of Venezuela and from the Late Miocene of the Pisco Formation">Venezuela.html" ;"title="apadare Formation of Venezuela">apadare Formation of Venezuela and from the Late Miocene of the Pisco Formation of Peru; they might rather be of a distinct but closely related genus, and it must be remembered that at that their time the Isthmus of Panama had not been formed yet so that an affiliation with the Atlantic ''

'' cannot be discounted. The former, specimen MBLUZ-P-5093 from Cueva del Zumbador in

Falcón State ) , anthem = , image_map = Falcon in Venezuela.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location within Venezuela , pushpin_map = , pushpin_map_alt = , pushpin_mapsiz ...

, is a premaxilla tip of immense dimensions; its bearer might have exceeded a wingspan of in life. Though some of the Miocene North American material was initially (and sometimes is still) assigned to ''Pelagornis'', recent authors generally place them in the present genus. Some wing bone fossils from the Eo-

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

boundary of Oregon (United States), though assigned to ''Argillornis'' (= '' Dasornis''), do not differ much from those of ''Osteodontornis'' (as far as can be told in their fragmented state), and may be from an older relative. They are the oldest known remains of large North Pacific pseudotooth birds, but if the enigmatic '' Cyphornis magnus'' from the same region dates back to the

they may well be assignable to that taxon, whatever their

systematic Systematic may refer to: Science * Short for systematic error * Systematic fault * Systematic bias, errors that are not determined by chance but are introduced by an inaccuracy (involving either the observation or measurement process) inheren ...

affiliations might be beyond that. As few directly comparable bones of sufficient quality exist, the relationship of ''Osteodontornis'' to other pseudotooth birds is not completely resolved. As noted above, the entire genus (regardless of how many species can be recognized) may be a

of ''Cyphornis''. Generally, recent authors have tended to place large

Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

pseudotooth bird fossils from the Atlantic in ''Pelagornis'', and those from the North Pacific in ''Osteodontornis''. It remains to be seen if this east–west division can be upheld, but

biogeographical Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, i ...

ly it seems quite sensible at least as a working hypothesis until sufficient well-preserved material has been found to make an in-depth study. It is less clear what to make of the Southern Hemisphere pseudotooth birds fossils, none of which are complete enough for more than the most tentative identification. Many seabirds of our time, such as

es and other Procellariiformes, show a phylogenetic division between Northern and Southern Hemisphere lineages, separated by the Equatorial currents. Whether this also held true in the warmer climate of the Miocene is not known, but the general phylogenetic patterns found in Procellariiformes suggests that the north–south division is rather ancient and evolved even before the Miocene. From the Neogene of New Zealand '' "Pseudodontornis" stirtoni'' has been described, which unlike the rest of its (doubtfully valid) genus is not from the Paleogene Atlantic region. It has been proposed as a monotypic genus ''Neodontornis'', but this has not been widely accepted. It may be valid still, as the bones are of a rather small pseudotooth bird; though apparently too small for ''Osteodontornis'' detailed comparisons could be insightful. Its jugal arch is indeed short and very stout behind the orbital process of the prefrontal bone, like in ''Osteodontornis'' but apparently unlike in the type species of its supposed genus, ''P. longirostris''. A larger

proximal Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position pro ...

(initially misidentified as

) humerus piece (

CMNZ The Canterbury Museum is a museum located in the central city of Christchurch, New Zealand, in the city's Cultural Precinct. The museum was established in 1867 with Julius von Haast – whose collection formed its core – as its first director ...

AV 24,960), probably from the

Waiauan While also using the international geologic time scale, many nations–especially those with isolated and therefore non-standard prehistories–use their own systems of dividing geologic time into epochs and faunal stages. In New Zealand, these epo ...

(Middle/Late Miocene) and found near the Waipara River mouth, is little if any distinct from ''O. orri'' in shape and size; it has a flange at the side and is less straight, but whether these features are natural or due to the damaged state of the specimens is unclear. It also agrees more with ''Pelagornis'' than with Paleogene remains from Oregon mentioned above. A distal left humerus end and some wing bone fragments from the Late Oligocene

Yamaga Formation The Yamaga Formation is a palaeontological formation located in Japan. It dates to the Upper Oligocene period. See also * List of fossil sites This list of fossil sites is a worldwide list of localities known well for the presence of fossi ...

Kitakyūshū is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fukuoka. It is one of ...

(Japan) might be the oldest remains of an ''Osteodontornis'', but their assignment to the present genus is just as uncertain as in the case of the New Zealand fossil. Also from Japan are one or two of the youngest pseudodontorn fossils – a fragmentary right humerus from the Early Pliocene

Yushima Formation The Yushima Formation, also known as the Tatsunokuchi Formation, is a palaeontological formation located in Japan. It dates to the Lower Pliocene period. See also * List of fossil sites This list of fossil sites is a worldwide list of lo ...

at Maesawa, and probably also a distal right femur (MFM 1801) from the

Early Pleistocene The Early Pleistocene is an unofficial sub-epoch in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, being the earliest division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently estimated to span the time ...

Dainichi Formation The Dainichi Formation is a paleontology, palaeontological formation located in Shizuoka Prefecture, Shizuoka, Japan. The formation is part of the Kakegawa Group. It dates to the Upper Pliocene period. The shell beds in the Dainichi formation con ...

at Kakegawa that was initially believed to be from an albatross. These might represent the last survivors of ''Osteodontornis'' – the Kakegawa fossil at least is a good match in size –, but require more study before they can be assigned there.Scarlett (1972), Olson (1985: pp.198–199), Goedert (1989), Ono (1980, 1989), Matsuoka et al. (1998), González-Barba et al. (2002), Mlíkovský (2002: p.84), Mayr (2008, 2009: p.58)

Footnotes

References

* (1987): Neogene avian localities of North America. ''Smithsonian Research Monographs'' 1. Prentice Hall & IBD. * (2007): El registro de Pelagornithidae (Aves: Pelecaniformes) y la Avifauna Neógena del Pacífico Sudeste he record of Pelagornithidae (Aves: Pelecaniformes) and the Neogene avifauna of the southeast Pacific ''Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Études Andines'' 36(2): 175–197 panish with French and English abstractsbr>PDF fulltext
* (1989): Giant Late Eocene Marine Birds (Pelecaniformes: Pelagornithidae) from Northwestern Oregon. '' J. Paleontol.'' 63(6): 939–944
Abstract and first page text
* (2002): Earliest Pacific Basin record of the Pelagornithidae (Aves, Pelecaniformes). '' J. Vertebr. Paleontol.'' 22(2): 722–725. DOI:10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022 722:EPBROT.0.CO;2HTML abstract
* (1964): ''Pseudodontornis'' and other large marine birds from the Miocene of South Carolina. ''Postilla'' 83: 1–19
Fulltext
at the Internet Archive * (1957): A gigantic "toothed" marine bird from the Miocene of California. ''Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Bulletin (Geology Department)'' 1: 1–23. * (1998): A Miocene pseudodontorn (Pelecaniformes: Pelagornithidae) from the Ichishi Group of Misato, Mie Prefecture, Central Japan. ''Paleontological Research'' 2(4): 246–252
PDF fulltext
* (2008): A skull of the giant bony-toothed bird Dasornis (Aves: Pelagornithidae) from the Lower Eocene of the Isle of Sheppey. ''

Palaeontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

'' 51(5): 1107–1116. (HTML abstract) * (2009): ''Paleogene Fossil Birds''. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg & New York. * (2008): A sternum of a very large bony-toothed bird (Pelagornithidae) from the Miocene of Portugal. '' J. Vertebr. Paleontol.'' 28(3): 762–769. DOI:10.1671/0272-4634(2008)28 62:ASOAVL.0.CO;2HTML abstract
* (2002): ''Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe''. Ninox Press, Prague. PDF fulltext
!-- This should be treated with extreme caution as regards merging of species. Splits are usually good though. See also critical review in Auk121:623-627 here http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3793/is_200404/ai_n9396879 --> * (2008)
Panama: Isthmus that Changed the World
Version of 2008-SEP-22. Retrieved 2009-SEP-24. *

009 009 may refer to: * OO9, gauge model railways * O09, FAA identifier for Round Valley Airport * 0O9, FAA identifier for Ward Field, see List of airports in California * British secret agent 009, see 00 Agent * BA 009, see British Airways Flight 9 * ...

br>Paleobiology Collections Search
Version of 2009-AUG-07. Retrieved 2009-AUG-22. * (1998): Body Size Effects and Rates of Cytochrome ''b'' Evolution in Tube-Nosed Seabirds. ''Molecular Biology and Evolution'' 15(10): 1360–137
PDF fulltextCorrigendum
* (1985): The Fossil Record of Birds. ''In:'' : ''Avian Biology'' 8: 79–252
PDF fulltext
* (1980): Pliocene Tubinare Bird from Kakegawa, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. ''Memoirs of the National Science Museum'' 13(1): 29–34, plate 2 apanese with English abstractbr>PDF fulltext
* (1989): A Bony-Toothed Bird from the Middle Miocene, Chichibu Basin, Japan. ''Bulletin of the National Science Museum Series C: Geology & Paleontology'' 15(1): 33–38
PDF fulltext
* (1991): Discovery of five Miocene birds from Chichibu Basin, central Japan. ''Bulletin of the Saitama Museum of Natural History'' 9: 41–49 apanese with English abstractbr>HTML abstract
* (1999): ''The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals''. Marshall Editions, London. * (1976): Fossil Marine Mammals of Oregon. ''Systematic Zoology'' 25(4): 420–436. Abstract and first page image
* (2003): Primer registro de la familia Pelagornithidae (Aves: Pelecaniformes) para Venezuela irst record of Pelagornithidae family from Venezuela ''Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Espeleología'' 37: 27–30 panish with English abstractbr>PDF fulltext
* (1972): Bone of a presumed odontopterygian bird from the Miocene of New Zealand. ''New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics'' 15(2): 269–274
Fulltext
at Google Books * (2004): New skull material of ''Osteodontornis orri'' (Aves: Pelagornithidae) from the Miocene of California. ''PaleoBios (Berkeley)'' 24(1): 7–1
HTML abstract
* (2009): 2009 GSA Geologic Time Scale . '' GSA Today'' 19(4): 60–61. PDF fulltext

External links

* University of Kyoto
Photo
of specimen MFM 28351. Retrieved 2009-AUG-20. * Flickr
Photo
of Round Mountain Silt jaw specimens at Buena Vista Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 2009-AUG-21. * Flickr
Photo
of Astoria Formation arm specimen NMNH PAL 335794 and Nye Formation vertebrae specimen NMNH PAL 335621 at National Museum of Natural History (mislabeled as ''

''). Retrieved 2009-AUG-21. * Flickr
Photo
of holotype specimen (SBMNH 309) slab (with bone fragments) at Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 2009-AUG-21. * Flickr
Photo
of SBMNH 309 counterslab (with bone impressions) at Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 2009-AUG-21. * Flickr
Another photo
of SBMNH 309 counterslab at Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 2009-AUG-21. * California Mediterranean Research Learning Center

of a jaw specimen embedded in

matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** ''The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchis ...

. Retrieved 2009-AUG-21. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1068980 Bird genera Pelagornithidae Miocene birds Miocene birds of North America Fossil taxa described in 1957 Taxa named by Hildegarde Howard