Palaeoephippiorhynchus is an extinct genus of large

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 ...

from the

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 ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

: its closest living relative is the

Saddle-billed stork The saddle-billed stork or saddlebill (''Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis'') is a large wading bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. It is a widespread species which is a resident breeder in sub-Saharan Africa from Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya south to ...

References

* Mlíkovský, J. 2003. Early Miocene birds of Djebel Zelten, Libya. J. Nat. Mus., Nat. Hist. Ser. 172: (1–4):114–120. * Rasmussen, T.; Olson, S. L. & Simons, E. L. 1987. Fossil birds from Oligocene Jebel Qatrani Formation, Fayum Province, Egypt. Smithsonian Contributions for Paleobiology 62: 1–19. Ciconiidae Cenozoic birds of Africa Oligocene birds Miocene birds Fossil taxa described in 1930 Storks {{Ciconiiformes-stub