The Pelecanidae is a family of

pelecaniform The Pelecaniformes are an order of medium-sized and large waterbirds found worldwide. As traditionally—but erroneously—defined, they encompass all birds that have feet with all four toes webbed. Hence, they were formerly also known by such n ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s within the Pelecani that contains two genera: the extinct ''

Eopelecanus ''Eopelecanus'' is an extinct genus of pelican from the Birket Qarun Formation in the Wadi El Hitan in Egypt, dating to the late Eocene ( Priabonian). The holotype, a right tibiotarsus discovered in 2008, represents the oldest record of pelicans ...

'' and the extant '' Pelecanus''. The family was

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

until the description of ''

'' in 2021. Pelecanids have existed since the late

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' ...

(

Priabonian The Priabonian is, in the ICS's geologic timescale, the latest age or the upper stage of the Eocene Epoch or Series. It spans the time between . The Priabonian is preceded by the Bartonian and is followed by the Rupelian, the lowest stage of t ...

) and they still exist today.

References

* * Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque Bird families {{pelecaniformes-stub