''Paraprefica'' is an extinct genus of

potoo Potoos (family Nyctibiidae) are a group of birds related to the nightjars and frogmouths. They are sometimes called poor-me-ones, after their haunting calls. The family Nyctibiidae was formerly included with the nightjars in the order Caprimulg ...

(family Nyctibiidae) from the middle

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' ...

(c. 48 million years ago). Its fossil remains have been found in the

Messel pit The Messel pit (german: Grube Messel) is a disused quarry near the village of Messel (Landkreis Darmstadt-Dieburg, Hesse) about southeast of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Bituminous shale was mined there. Because of its abundance of well-preserved ...

Messel Messel is a municipality in the district of Darmstadt-Dieburg in Hesse near Frankfurt am Main in Germany. The village is first mentioned, as ''Masilla'', in the Lorsch codex. Messel was the property of the lords of Groschlag from ca. 1400 to 1799 ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Taxonomy

It is the only known member of the extinct

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Parapreficinae, erected in 2021 to distinguish ''Paraprefica'' from the extant potoos of the genus ''

Nyctibius Bird genera ''Nyctibius'' is a genus of potoos, nocturnal birds in the family Nyctibiidae. Etymology The genus ''Nyctibius'' was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot to accommodate a single species, C ...

'' and '' Phyllaemulor'', which have a slightly different anatomy and are known only from the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

Described for the first time in 1999 by G. Mayr, this bird was at first placed in the genus '' Prefica'', a North American fossil closely related to modern oilbirds ('' Steatornis caripensis''). Later research showed however that ''Paraprefica'' had characteristics found only in the family Nyctibiidae, order

Caprimulgiformes Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds in the family Caprimulgidae and order Caprimulgiformes, characterised by long wings, short legs, and very short bills. They are sometimes called goatsuckers, due to the ancient folk tal ...

(the nightjars). It is possible that the similarities between the bones of ''Prefica'' and ''Paraprefica'' are due to primitive characters found in all Cypselomorphs, the group that also includes the Caprimulgiformes. There are two species in the genus: ''Paraprefica kelleri'', the best known, and ''Paraprefica major''.

Description

This bird is known from fossil remains which include a

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

and many well-preserved

skull The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, the ...

s, and is one of the best preserved Eocene birds. ''Paraprefica'', a medium-sized bird, has skull and legs somewhat resembling today's

s, in the genera ''Nyctibius'' and ''Phyllaemulor''. The head has a thin

beak The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for eating, preening, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food ...

and a very wide mouth, while the wings are relatively large, though smaller than those of extant potoos.Mayr, 1999.Mayr, 2005.

Distribution

The existing finds from Germany present a puzzle on the birds' distribution, as modern potoos are found only in the New World, from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

to the north of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and the Caribbean islands of

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

and

Tobago Tobago () is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger island of Trini ...

, making them

Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...

. Either the group was once cosmopolitan, and has become limited to the Americas, or it was Eurasian and has at some time shifted its distribution.Tudge, 2011. p. 84.

References

Sources

* Mayr, G. (1999). ''Caprimulgiform birds from the Middle Eocene of Messel'' (Hessen, Germany). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 19(3): 521–532. * Mayr, G. (2005). ''The Palaeogene Old World Potoo ''Paraprefica'' Mayr, 1999 (Aves, Nyctibiidae): its osteology and affinities to the New World Preficinae''. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 3 (4): 359–370. doi:10.1017/S1477201905001653 * Tudge, C. (2011).
The Link: Uncovering Our Earliest Ancestor
'. Hachette. {{Taxonbar, from=Q3895272 Eocene birds of Europe Prehistoric bird genera Nyctibiidae Fossil taxa described in 2005