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Prophaethontidae
Prophaethontidae is an extinct family of Early Paleogene phaethontiforms that include the genera '' Lithoptila'' and '' Prophaethon'', as well as possibly '' Phaethusavis'' and '' Zhylgaia''. The anatomy of the prophaethontids were more similar to those of members of the order Procellariiformes Procellariiformes is an order (biology), order of seabirds that comprises four family (biology), families: the albatrosses, the Procellariidae, petrels and shearwaters, and two families of storm petrels. Formerly called Tubinares and still call ... than to Phaethontidae, features including nostrils that are long and slit-like, with longer wings and legs. This suggests that prophaethontids were better at swimming and being more pelagic and surface-feeding than tropicbirds are today. Such features were suggested to link the phaethontiforms with the procellariiforms, but molecular studies do not support this and instead support a relationship between phaethontiforms and the order Euryp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lithoptila
''Lithoptila abdounensis'' is an extinct species of prophaethontid seabird that lived during the Palaeogene period. It is a distant relative of the tropicbirds. Distribution ''L. abdounensis'' lived in Morocco, its fossils having been found in strata dating to both the Late Palaeocene and Early Eocene In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age (geology), age or lowest stage (stratigraphy), stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by th .... References Paleocene birds Prehistoric bird genera Prophaethontidae Fossil taxa described in 2005 Fossils of Morocco {{Phaethontiformes-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phaethontiformes
The Phaethontiformes are an order of birds. They contain one extant family, the tropicbirds (Phaethontidae), and one extinct family Prophaethontidae from the early Cenozoic. Several fossil genera have been described, with well-preserved fossils known as early as the Paleocene. The group's origins may lie even earlier if the enigmatic waterbird '' Novacaesareala'' from the latest Cretaceous or earliest Paleocene of New Jersey is considered a tropicbird. Many phaethontiform fossil taxa are known from the Paleocene and Eocene, but the fossil record becomes much more scant after the Oligocene. This suggests that around this time, the group may have moved out of the nearshore habitats where they were easier to fossilize and evolved the pelagic lifestyle that is still retained by the few surviving members today. The tropicbirds were traditionally grouped in the order Pelecaniformes, which contained the pelicans, cormorants and shags, darters, gannets and boobies and frigatebird ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prophaethon
''Prophaethon'' is an extinct genus of seabird that lived during the Early Eocene (Ypresian, c.56-49 mya). As indicated by its generic name, it is a distant relative of the tropicbirds. Distribution The type species, ''P. shrubsolei'', is essentially known from a holotype specimen consisting of fairly comprehensive fossil remains of a single individual, namely a skull and some limb bones, which were recovered from the London Clay on the Isle of Sheppey, England. Since its initial description, more remains of ''P. shrubsolei'' were described by Gerald Mayr, having been found at Walton-on-the-Naze, also in the London Clay. A second species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ..., ''P. waltonensis'', has also been described from fossil remains hailing from Walton-on-th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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, which at that time were believed to be some sort of "transitional shorebird". Upon recognition that the presbyornithids were more likely a prehistoric lineage of fairly advanced waterfowl, ''Zhylgaia'' was assigned to the form taxon " Graculavidae", an assemblage of Late Cretaceous and Paleocene shorebirds which are not a natural clade but merely an assemblage of superficially similar birds. All that can be said about this taxon is that it was a modern bird, most likely a neognath. In 2008, ''Zhylgaia'' was assigned to Prophaethontidae—an extinct family related to modern tropicbirds—on the basis of its anatomy and size closely matching the prophaethontid ''Lithoptila ''Lithoptila abdounensis'' is an extinct species of prophaetho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phaethusavis
''Phaethusavis'' is an extinct genus of phaethontid that lived during the Ypresian stage of the Eocene epoch. Distribution ''Phaethusavis pelagicus'' is known from the Ouled Abdoun Basin of Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc .... References Phaethontidae Prehistoric bird genera Fossil taxa described in 2008 {{Paleo-bird-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paleogene
The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the first period of the Cenozoic Era, the tenth period of the Phanerozoic and is divided into the Paleocene, Eocene, and Oligocene epochs. The earlier term Tertiary Period was used to define the time now covered by the Paleogene Period and subsequent Neogene Period; despite no longer being recognized as a formal stratigraphic term, "Tertiary" still sometimes remains in informal use. Paleogene is often abbreviated "Pg", although the United States Geological Survey uses the abbreviation "" for the Paleogene on the Survey's geologic maps. Much of the world's modern vertebrate diversity originated in a rapid surge of diversification in the early Paleogene, as survivors of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event took advantage of empty ecolo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Procellariiformes
Procellariiformes is an order (biology), order of seabirds that comprises four family (biology), families: the albatrosses, the Procellariidae, petrels and shearwaters, and two families of storm petrels. Formerly called Tubinares and still called tubenoses in English, procellariiforms are often referred to collectively as the petrels, a term that has been applied to all members of the order,Warham, J. (1996). ''The Behaviour, Population, Biology and Physiology of the Petrels''. London: Academic Press, or more commonly all the families except the albatrosses.Brooke, 2004. They are almost exclusively pelagic (feeding in the open ocean), and have a cosmopolitan distribution across the world's oceans, with the highest species diversity, diversity being around New Zealand. Procellariiforms are seabird colony, colonial, mostly nesting on remote, predator-free islands. The larger species nest on the surface, while most smaller species nest in natural cavities and burrows. They exhibit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phaethontidae
Tropicbirds are a family, Phaethontidae, of tropical pelagic seabirds. They are the sole living representatives of the order Phaethontiformes. For many years they were considered part of the Pelecaniformes, but genetics indicates they are most closely related to the Eurypygiformes. There are three species in one genus, ''Phaethon''. The scientific names are derived from Ancient Greek ''phaethon'', "sun". They have predominantly white plumage with elongated tail feathers and small feeble legs and feet. Taxonomy, systematics and evolution The genus ''Phaethon'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. The name is from Ancient Greek ''phaethōn'' meaning "sun". The type species was designated as the red-billed tropicbird (''Phaethon aethereus'') by George Robert Gray in 1840. Tropicbirds were traditionally grouped in the order Pelecaniformes, which contained the pelicans, cormorants and shags, darters, gann ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurypygiformes
Eurypygiformes is an order formed by the kagus, comprising two species in the family Rhynochetidae endemic to New Caledonia, and the sunbittern (''Eurypyga helias'') from the tropical regions of the Americas. Its closest relatives appear to be the tropicbirds of the tropical Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. Classification The affinities of Eurypygiformes are not very well resolved. The group consists of two families from a Gondwanan lineage of birds. Based on some morphological characteristics, they were initially classed as members of the family Ardeidae, and later the Gruiformes. According to Jarvis, et al.'s 2014 "Whole-genome analyses resolve early branches in the tree of life of modern birds", the group is distantly related to the Phaethontiformes. The oldest known fossil eurypygiform is an indeterminate fossil eurypygid from the Early Eocene-aged Green River Formation of the United States. When seen as a gruiform, the kagu is generally considered related to the ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seabirds
Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations. The first seabirds evolved in the Cretaceous period, while modern seabird families emerged in the Paleogene. Seabirds generally live longer, breed later and have fewer young than other birds, but they invest a great deal of time in their young. Most species nest in colonies, varying in size from a few dozen birds to millions. Many species are famous for undertaking long annual migrations, crossing the equator or circumnavigating the Earth in some cases. They feed both at the ocean's surface and below it, and even on each other. Seabirds can be highly pelagic, coastal, or in some cases spend a part of the year away from the sea entirely. Seabirds and humans hav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
