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Pelagornithidae ✝

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Source Data

Source	ID	Link
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ID (GBIF)	Not linked to a GBIF record.
PaleoBioDB ID (PBDB)	39658	https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=39658

Rank

family (PBDB)

Taxonomy (PBDB)

Life : Animalia : Chordata : Aves : Pelagornithidae

Classification
(PBDB,GBIF)

Rank	Name	Author
-	Eukaryota
-	Opisthokonta	Cavalier-Smith 1987
kingdom	Animalia
-	Triploblastica	Lankester 1877
-	Nephrozoa	Jondelius et al. 2002
-	Deuterostomia	Grobben 1908
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1847
subphylum	Vertebrata	Lamarck 1801
superclass	Gnathostomata	Gegenbauer 1874
-	Osteichthyes
-	Sarcopterygii	Romer 1955
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha
-	Tetrapoda
-	Reptiliomorpha	Säve-Söderbergh 1934
-	Anthracosauria	Säve-Söderbergh 1934
-	Batrachosauria
-	Cotylosauria
-	Amniota	Haeckel 1866
-	Sauropsida	Huxley 1864
class	Reptilia	Laurenti 1768
subclass	Eureptilia
-	Romeriida	Gauthier et al. 1988
-	Diapsida
-	Eosuchia
-	Neodiapsida	Benton 1985
-	Sauria	Gauthier 1984
-	Archosauromorpha
-	Crocopoda	Ezcurra 2016
-	Archosauriformes	Gauthier 1986
-	Eucrocopoda	Ezcurra 2016
-	Archosauria
informal	Avemetatarsalia	Benton 1999
-	Ornithodira	Gauthier 1986
-	Dinosauromorpha	Benton 1985
-	Dinosauriformes	Novas 1992
-	Dinosauria
-	Saurischia
-	Theropoda
-	Neotheropoda	Bakker 1986
-	Averostra	Paul 2002
-	Tetanurae	Gauthier 1986
order	Avetheropoda	Paul 1988
suborder	Coelurosauria	Huene 1914
-	Maniraptora	Gauthier 1986
-	Paraves	Sereno 1997
class	Aves	Linnaeus 1758
-	Pygostylia	Chiappe 2002
-	Ornithothoraces	Chiappe and Calvo 1994
-	Ornithuromorpha	Chiappe et al. 1999
subclass	Ornithurae	Haeckel 1866
subclass	Neornithes	Gadow 1893
-	Neognathae
family	Pelagornithidae	Fürbringer 1888

Opinions (PBDB)

Name	Rank	Opinion	Evidence	Author
Pelagornithidae	family	belongs to Suloidea	stated with evidence	Wetmore, 1960
Pelagornithidae	family	belongs to Odontopterygiformes	stated without evidence	Harrison and Walker, 1976
Pelagornithidae	family	belongs to Odontopterygia	stated without evidence	McKee, 1985
Pelagornithidae	family	belongs to Pelecaniformes	stated without evidence	Matsuoka et al., 1998
Pelagornithidae	family	belongs to Odontopterygia	stated without evidence	González-Barba et al., 2002
Pelagornithidae	family	belongs to Galloanserae	stated without evidence	Mayr, 2008
Pelagornithidae	family	belongs to Odontopterygiformes	stated without evidence	Mourer-Chauvire and Geraads, 2008
Pelagornithidae	family	belongs to Aves	stated without evidence	Mayr and Smith, 2010
Pelagornithidae	family	belongs to Odontopterygiformes	stated without evidence	Bourdon et al., 2010
Pelagornithidae	family	belongs to Aves	stated without evidence	Mayr and Zvonok, 2011
Pelagornithidae	family	belongs to Neognathae	stated with evidence	Mayr, 2011
Pelagornithidae	family	belongs to Odontopterygiformes	stated without evidence	Cenizo et al., 2016

Status (PBDB)

extinct

Taxon Size (PBDB)

First Recorded Appearance

66.0 - 59.2 Ma
Paleocene

Last Recorded Appearance

2.59 - 0.01 Ma
Pleistocene

Environment

marine (based on Pelagornithidae)

Motility

actively mobile (based on Theropoda)

Diet

carnivore (based on Coelurosauria)

Reproduction

oviparous, dispersal=direct/internal,mobile (based on Theropoda)

Ontogeny

accretion,modification of parts (based on Theropoda)

Taphonomy

hydroxylapatite,compact or dense (based on Theropoda)

Primary Reference (PBDB)

R. L. Carroll. 1988. Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution

Fossil Distribution

Subtaxa

Name	Status	Fossil Occurrences	Oldest	Youngest
Caspiodontornis ✝ genus	listed (PBDB)	1	28.1 Ma Oligocene	28.1 Ma Oligocene
Cyphornis ✝ genus	listed (PBDB)	1	33.9 Ma Oligocene	33.9 Ma Oligocene
Dasornis ✝ genus	listed (PBDB)	8	61.6 Ma Paleocene	38.0 Ma Eocene
Gigantornis ✝ genus	doubtful (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	2	47.8 Ma Eocene	41.3 Ma Eocene
Lutetodontopteryx ✝ genus	listed (PBDB)	1	47.8 Ma Eocene	47.8 Ma Eocene
Macrodontopteryx ✝ genus	listed (PBDB)	3	56.0 Ma Paleocene	47.8 Ma Eocene
Osteodontornis ✝ genus	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)	11	58.7 Ma Paleocene	11.6 Ma Miocene
Pelagornis ✝ genus	listed (PBDB)	29	41.3 Ma Eocene	3.60 Ma Pliocene
Protodontopteryx ✝ genus	listed (PBDB)	1	66.0 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous	66.0 Ma Late/Upper Cretaceous

Synonymy List

Year	Name and Author
1888	Pelagornithidae Fürbringer
1891	Odontopterygidae Lydekker
1933	Pseudodontornithidae Lambrecht
1933	Odontopterygidae Lambrecht p. 304
1933	Pseudodontornithidae Lambrecht p. 305
1957	Pseudodontornithidae Howard p. 21
1960	Odontopterygidae Wetmore p. 24
1960	Pelagornithidae Wetmore p. 24
1960	Pseudodontornithidae Wetmore p. 24
1968	Pseudodontornithidae Howard p. 9
1969	Pseudodontornithidae Howard and Warter p. 354
1972	Pseudodontornithidae Howard p. 5
1976	Odontopterygidae Harrison and Walker p. 5
1976	Pseudodontornithidae Harrison and Walker p. 15
1976	Pseudodontornis longidentata Harrison and Walker p. 17
1976	Dasornithidae Harrison and Walker p. 24
1976	Pelagornithidae Harrison and Walker p. 29
1978	Pseudodontornithidae Howard p. 14
1982	Pseudodontornithidae Aslanova and Burchak-Abramowich p. 410

Year	Name and Author
1985	Pelagornithidae McKee p. 181
1985	Pelagornithidae Olson p. 194
1988	Pelagornithidae Carroll
1989	Pelagornithidae Goedert p. 940
1993	Pelagornithidae Cheneval p. 90
1998	Pelagornithidae Matsuoka et al. p. 246
2001	Pelagornithidae Olson and Rasmussen p. 259
2002	Pelagornithidae González-Barba et al. p. 723
2003	Pelagornithidae Matsuoka et al. p. 55
2007	Pelagornithidae Chavez et al. p. 179
2007	Odontopterygidae Livezey and Zusi p. 90
2008	Pelagornithidae Mayr p. 1115
2008	Pelagornithidae Mourer-Chauvire and Geraads p. 174
2010	Pelagornithidae Bourdon et al. p. 4
2010	Pelagornithidae Mayr and Smith p. 366
2011	Pelagornithidae Mayr p. 448 figs. Fig. 1
2011	Pelagornithidae Mayr and Zvonok p. 1348
2016	Pelagornithidae Cenizo et al. p. 3

References

Carroll R. L. (1988) , Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution, 1-698

Lambrecht K. (1933) Handbuch der Palaeornithologie, 1-1024

Howard H. (1957) A gigantic "toothed" marine bird from the Miocene of California, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Department of Geology Bulletin 1, 1-23

Wetmore A. (1960) A classification for the birds of the world, Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 139 11, 1-37

Howard H. (1968) Tertiary birds from Laguna Hills, Orange County, California, Los Angeles County Museum Contributions in Science 142, 1-21

Howard H., Warter S. L. (1969) A new specides of bony-toothed bird (Family Pseudodontornithidae) from the Tertiary of New Zealand, Records of the Canterbury Museum 8 4, 345-357

Howard H. (1972) Type specimens of avian fossils in the collections of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Contributions in Science, 1-27

Harrison J. O., Walker C. A. (1976) A review of the bony-toothed birds (Odontopterygiformes): With descriptions of some new species, Tertiary Research Special Paper 2, 1-62

Howard H. (1978) Late Miocene marine birds from Orange County, California, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Contributions in Science 290, 1-26

Aslanova S. M., Burchak-Abramowich N. I. (1982) The first and unique find of the fossil of Perekishkul toothed bird in the territory of USSR and in the Asiatic continent, Sakartvelos SSR Mecnierebata Akademils Macne. Biologiis Seria 8 6, 406-412

Olson S. L. (1985) The fossil record of birds, Avian Biology VIII, 79-256

Goedert J. L. (1989) Giant late Eocene Marine birds (Pelicaniformes: Pelagornithidae) from northwestern Oregon, Journal of Paleontology 63 6, 939-944

Cheneval J. (1993) L'avifaune Mio-Pliocene de la Formation Pisco (Perou) etude prliminaire, Document Labratorie Geologique Lyon 125, 85-95

Matsuoka H., Sakakura F., et al (1998) A Miocene pseudodontorn (Pelecaniformes : Pelagornithidae) from the Ichishi Group of Misato, Mie Prefecture, Central Japan, Paleontological Research 2 4, 246-252

Olson S. L., Rasmussen P. C. (2001) Miocene and Pliocene birds from the Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina, Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology 90, 233-365

González-Barba G., Schwennicke T., et al (2002) Earliest Pacific Basin record of the Pelagornithidae (Aves: Pelecaniformes), Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 22 3, 722-725

Matsuoka H., Koda Y., et al (2003) Pseudodontorn fossils from Japan, with preliminary observations on the maxilla specimen from the Lower Oligocene Iwaki Formation, Fukushima, Japan, Bulletin of the Gunma Museum of Natural History 7, 47-59

Chavez M., Stucchi M., et al (2007) El registro de Pelagornithidae (Aves: Pelecaniformes) y la avifauna neogena del Pacifico sudeste, Bulletin de l'Institut Francais d'Etudes Andines 36 2, 175-197

Livezey B. C., Zusi R. L. (2007) Higher-order phylogeny of modern birds (Theropoda, Aves: Neornithes) based on comparative anatomy. II. Analysis and discussion, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 149 1, 1-95

Mayr G. (2008) A skull of the giant bony-toothed bird Dasornis (Aves: Pelagornithidae) from the Lower Eocene of the Isle of Sheppey, Palaeontology 51 5, 1107-1116

Mourer-Chauvire C., Geraads D. (2008) The Struthionidae and Pelagornithidae (Aves: Struthioniformes, Odontopterygiformes) from the late Pliocene of Ahl Al Oughlam, Morocco, Oryctos 7, 169-194

Bourdon E., Amaghzaz M., et al (2010) Pseudotoothed birds (Aves, Odontopterygiformes) from the early Tertiary of Morocco, American Museum Novitates 3704, 1-71

Mayr G., Smith T. (2010) Bony-toothed birds (Aves: Pelagornithidae) from the middle Eocene of Belgium, Palaeontology 53 2, 365-376

Mayr G. (2011) Cenozoic mystery birds – on the phylogenetic affinities of bony-toothed birds (Pelagornithidae), Zoologica Scripta 40, 448-467

Mayr G., Zvonok E. (2011) Middle Eocene Pelagornithidae and Gaviiformes (Aves) from the Ukrainian Paratethys, Palaeontology 54 6, 1347-1359

Cenizo M., Acosta Hospitaleche C., et al (2016) Diversity of pseudo-toothed birds (Pelagornithidae) from the Eocene of Antarctica, Journal of Paleontology doi:10.1017/jpa.2015.48

Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!

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