Presbyornithidae 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 ...
group of
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 with a global distribution. They had evolved by the late
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
period and became extinct during the 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 ...
. Initially, they were believed to present a mix of characters shown by waterbirds,
shorebird
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Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...
s and
flamingo
Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of Wader, wading bird in the Family (biology), family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas ...
s and were used to argue for an evolutionary relationship between these groups,
but they are now generally accepted to be
waterfowl
Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which in ...
closely related to modern ducks, geese, and
screamers.
They were generally long-legged, long-necked birds, standing around one meter high, with the body of a duck, feet similar to a
wader
245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots
Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...
but
webbed
''Webbed'' is a 2D adventure puzzle platform game developed and published by Australian, Brisbane-based studio Sbug Games. A physics-based game set in a fantasy version of Queensland, players control a peacock spider whose goal is to rescue ...
, and a flat duck-like bill adapted for
filter feeding
Filter feeders are a sub-group of suspension feeding animals that feed by straining suspended matter and food particles from water, typically by passing the water over a specialized filtering structure. Some animals that use this method of feedin ...
. At least some species were social birds that lived in large flocks and nested in colonies, while others, like the ''
Wilaru
''Wilaru'' is an extinct genus of bird of uncertain phylogenetic placement from the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene of Australia. It was originally classified as a stone-curlew, but subsequently it was argued to be a member of the extinct famil ...
'' species, were terrestrial and solitary.
Several
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 ...
have been classified as presbyornithids:
* ''
Presbyornis''
( type)
* ''
Bumbalavis''
* ''
Headonornis''
(disputed)
* ''
"Styginetta"
* ''
Telmabates''
* ''
Teviornis
''Teviornis'' is a genus of extinct birds. One species has been described, ''T. gobiensis''. It lived in the Maastrichtian stage at the end of the Late Cretaceous period, some 70 million years ago. It is known from fossils collected from the Nem ...
''
* ''
Proherodius''
* ''
Zhylgaia
''Zhylgaia'' is a genus of fossil bird. Its remains, consisting of two partial humeri, were recovered from an upper Paleocene deposit in Kazakhstan.
The relationships of this genus are unknown; it was initially placed in the Presbyornithidae, wh ...
''
* ''
Wilaru
''Wilaru'' is an extinct genus of bird of uncertain phylogenetic placement from the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene of Australia. It was originally classified as a stone-curlew, but subsequently it was argued to be a member of the extinct famil ...
''
There are some other, undescribed, presbyornithid or possible presbyornithid remains, such as the partial right
scapula
The scapula (plural scapulae or scapulas), also known as the shoulder blade, is the bone that connects the humerus (upper arm bone) with the clavicle (collar bone). Like their connected bones, the scapulae are paired, with each scapula on eithe ...
BMNH PAL 4989, which was considered part of ''Headonornis hantoniensis'', but cannot be positively refererred to a known taxon, or the Late Cretaceous remains from the Mongolian
Barun Goyot Formation
The Barun Goyot Formation (also known as Baruungoyot Formation or West Goyot Formation) is a geological formation dating to the Late Cretaceous Period. It is located within and is widely represented in the Gobi Desert Basin, in the Ömnögovi Pr ...
at
Uday Sayr Uday or Odai is a masculine name in Arabic as well as several Indian languages. In many Indian languages it means 'dawn' or 'rise'. The Arabic name (عدي) means 'runner' or 'rising'.
List of people
* Uday Benegal, Indian musician
* Uday Pratap S ...
and the
Nemegt Formation
The Nemegt Formation (also known as Nemegtskaya Svita) is a geological formation in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, dating to the Late Cretaceous. The formation consists of river channel sediments and contains fossils of fish, turtles, crocodilians, ...
of
Tsagaan Kushu Tsagaan (Mongolian: цагаан, ''white'', zh, 查干) may refer to:
People
* Monguor people or ''Tsagaan mongghol'', a Mongol ethnic group in China
* Okna Tsahan Zam (born 1957), a Kalmyk throat singer
* Chagaan, 13th-century commander of th ...
.
References
External links
Reconstruction of ''Presbyornis'' at pixel-shack.com
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2262654
Prehistoric bird families
Prehistoric birds
Late Cretaceous first appearances
Rupelian extinctions
Tertiary extinctions of vertebrate taxa
Taxa named by Alexander Wetmore