''Proardea'' 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
heron
The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...
, containing two
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
, ''Proardea amissa'' ("lost proto-heron") and ''Proardea? deschutteri'' from the
Borgloon Formation
Borgloon (; french: Looz, ; li, Loeën) is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On January 1, 2006, Borgloon had a total population of 10,697. The total area is 51.12 km2 (19.74 sq mi) which gives a population ...
of
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
. It stood about 70 cm (2 ft 4 in) tall and was very similar to a modern
heron
The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...
in shape. The species is known from rather fragmentary
fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
s in the area of
Quercy
Quercy (; oc, Carcin , locally ) is a former province of France located in the country's southwest, bounded on the north by Limousin, on the west by Périgord and Agenais, on the south by Gascony and Languedoc, and on the east by Rouergue and Au ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
; dated remains are from
Pech Desse, a Late
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 ...
locality, but the original fossil, a single right
tarsometatarsus
The tarsometatarsus is a bone that is only found in the lower leg of birds and some non-avian dinosaurs. It is formed from the fusion of several bones found in other types of animals, and homologous to the mammalian tarsus (ankle bones) and meta ...
(
MNHN
The French National Museum of Natural History, known in French as the ' (abbreviation MNHN), is the national natural history museum of France and a ' of higher education part of Sorbonne Universities. The main museum, with four galleries, is loca ...
QU-15720), isn't precisely dated
[ and may have come from deposits as early as 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' ...
in age.
''Proardea'' was apparently closely related to the true herons and egrets (Ardeinae). As these genera are only known from the 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 ...
onwards, ''Proardea'' possibly was a direct ancestor of today's herons and/or egrets. However, the Miocene genus '' Proardeola'' is closely related, or perhaps even synonymous, with ''Proardea''; the former's single species ''Proardeola walkeri'' may thus be ''Proardea walkeri'' or even identical with ''P. amissa''. The bird described as '' Ardea aurelianensis'' may also be identical with ''P. amissa'', which would in that case become known as ''Proardea aurelianensis''. Supposed other species of ''Proardea'', ''P. perplexa'' and ''P. similis'', are synonyms of the ibis
The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...
''Geronticus perplexus
__NOTOC__
The small bird genus ''Geronticus'' belongs to the ibis subfamily (Threskiornithinae). Its name is derived from the Greek ''gérontos'' (γέρωντος, "old man") in reference to the bald head of these dark-plumaged birds; in Englis ...
'' and the phasianid
The Phasianidae are a family of heavy, ground-living birds, which includes pheasants, partridges, junglefowl, chickens, turkeys, Old World quail, and peafowl. The family includes many of the most popular gamebirds. The family is a large one and i ...
''Miogallus altus
''Miogallus'' is an extinct genus of large pheasant
Pheasants ( ) are birds of several genera within the family Phasianidae in the order Galliformes. Although they can be found all over the world in introduced (and captive) populations, th ...
'', respectively.
References
Further reading
* Lambrecht, Kálmán (1933): enus ''Proardea''''In: Handbuch der Palaeornithologie'': 311. Gebrüder Bornträger, Berlin.
* Milne-Edwards, Alphonse (1892): Sur les oiseaux fossiles des dépots éocènes de phosphate de chaux du Sud de la France. ''In'': Sclater, P.L. (ed.), ''Comptes Rendus du Second Congrès Ornithologique International'': 60–80. Budapest.
* The ISBN printed in the document (80-901105-3-8) is invalid, causing a checksum error.
Ardeidae
Herons
Bird genera
Oligocene birds
Oligocene animals of Europe
Paleogene birds of Europe
Fossils of Belgium
Fossils of France
Taxa named by Kálmán Lambrecht
{{Pelecaniformes-stub