User:DrawingDinosaurs/Pelagornithidae
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pelagornithidae (/ˌpɛlæɡɔːrŋɪθɪdeɪ/) is an extinct family of large to very large seabirds. They are characterised by the tooth-like projections present in their beaks, which has lead to various other names for the group such as the pseudodontorns and odontopterygians. Fossils of pelagornithids have been found all over the world and are known from the Early Paleocene just a few million years after the K-Pg Extinction to the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary.[1][2]
DrawingDinosaurs/Pelagornithidae | |
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Replica of a Pelagornis miocaenus skeleton at the NMNH | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Clade: | incertae sedis |
Order: | †Odontopterygiformes Howard, 1957 |
Family: | †Pelagornithidae Fürbringer, 1888 |
Genera | |
Synonyms | |
Family synonymy but see text
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Pelagornithids are also distinct for their large size, the smallest known species of pelagornithid (Protodontopteryx) was the size of a large modern gull, and the largest species of Pelagornis had wingspans estimated at 5–6 metres (16–20 ft) and were among the largest flying birds to ever live. They were highly specialised for soaring, similar to modern albatrosses, and the largest species may have been incapable of flapping entirely. Their skeletons were very lightly constructed, and their wing bones were elongated and had very thin bone walls, and consequently are difficult to preserve. Pelagornithids were prominent components of oceanic ecosystems for much of the Cenozoic, and the reasons for their extinction are unclear.
The relations of pelagornithids to living in birds is not well understood. Despite their superficial similarity, pelagornithids are considered to be unrelated to living seabirds like pelicans and albatrosses, and features of their skeleton suggest that they are likely to be relatively primitive birds outside of Neoaves. Anseriformes have been suggested to be the closest living relatives of pelagornithids based on shared traits in their skeletons, although it is unclear if these are shared derived traits or are simply ancestral to Galloanserae and pelagornithids. Similarly, the internal systematics of pelagornithids is also unclear, with numerous genera named from fragmentary and isolated bones that may be synonymous with each other.