''Torotix'' is a
Late Cretaceous genus of
aquatic birds. They lived along the shores of the
Western Interior Seaway, but it is not clear whether they were seabirds or freshwater birds, as the genus is only known from a
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 ...
. Consequently, the genus contains only one known species, ''Torotix clemensi''. ''T. clemensi'' is represented by a single fossil specimen, a partial humerus (upper arm bone) recovered from the
Lance formation of
Wyoming. Its deposits are dated to the very end of the
Cretaceous period, 66 million years ago.
Classification
''Torotix'' was first described by Brodkorb in 1963, who initially suggested that it was related to modern
flamingos, in the order
Phoenicopteriformes.
[Brodkorb (1963). "Birds from the Upper Cretaceous of Wyoming." pp. 50–70 in Sibley (ed.), ''Proceedings of the XIII International Ornithological Congress''.] Later researchers thought it was more likely to have been related to the
Charadriiformes (waders/shorebirds).
[Olson, S. (1985). "The fossil record of birds." pp. 79–239 in Farner, King and Parkes (eds.), ''Avian Biology vol VIII''. New York: Academic Press.] More recent comparative studies have found it to be most similar to
Pelecaniformes.
[Hope, S. (2002). "The Mesozoic radiation of Neornithes." pp. 339–388 in Chiappe, L. and Witmer, L.M. (eds), ''Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs''. Berkeley: University of California Press.]
A
cladistic study of the wing bone found ''Torotix'' not to resemble that of the
waved albatross (a procellariiform),
northern gannet (of 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 ...
Suliformes),
painted buttonquail
The painted buttonquail (''Turnix varius'') is a species of buttonquail, the family Turnicidae, which resemble, but are unrelated to, the quails of Phasianidae. This species is resident in Australia where numbers are believed to be in decline. ...
(an ancient charadriiform),
black-necked stilt
The black-necked stilt (''Himantopus mexicanus'') is a locally abundant shorebird of American wetlands and coastlines. It is found from the coastal areas of California through much of the interior western United States and along the Gulf of Mexic ...
(a more advanced charadriiform) or a ''
Phoenicopterus'' flamingo noticeably more than any other. However, this comparison provided information only about ecological rather than
phylogenetic similarities.
The
family Torotigidae was initially established to unite this genus with ''
Parascaniornis
''Baptornis'' ("diving bird") is a genus of flightless, aquatic birds from the Late Cretaceous, some 87-80 million years ago (roughly mid-Coniacian to mid- Campanian faunal stages). The fossils of ''Baptornis advenus'', the type species, were di ...
'' and ''
Gallornis''. However, the former is now considered 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 ''
Baptornis'' (a
hesperornithine), while the latter may be a very early
fowl of the group
Galloanserae.
Footnotes
Pelecaniformes
Bird genera
Late Cretaceous birds of North America
Fossil taxa described in 1963
{{Pelecaniformes-stub