In Depth Megapaloelodus is a genus of extinct bird close in form and ecological niche to a modern flamingo, though at the same time Megapaloelodus was only a distant relative. Megapaloelodus is immediately notable for having a distinctly different ankle structure to that of a modern flamingo. This ankle may have allowed the leg to … Read more
In Depth Eoalulavis was the first Mesozoic bird known to have had an alula, more commonly known as a bastard wing. The alula is a small extension to the anterior (front) edge of the wing that serves as an attachment point for a few additional small flight feathers. When extended, the alula both increased low … Read more
In Depth Although Procariama was one of the famous South American ‘terror birds’ it was actually one of the smallest being of a comparable size to Psilopterus and Paleopsilopterus, the other members of the Psilopterinae sub group. As such Procariama would have had a focus upon smaller prey animals that were too small for the … Read more
In Depth Further Reading - The evolutionary history of the extinct ratite moa and New Zealand Neogene paleogeography - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106 (49): 20646 - M. Bunce, T. H. Worthy, M. J. Phillips, R. N. Holdaway, E. Willerslev, J. Haile, B. Shapiro, R. P. Scofield, A. Drummond, P. J. J. … Read more
In Depth Mesembriornis was a middle of the range ‘terror bird’ with regards to its size, but it was one of the last known to have lived. In overall build Mesembriornis was similar to other medium sized phorusrhacids such as Andalgalornis and may have also filled the same ecological niche as its earlier predecessor. Mesembriornis … Read more
In Depth Jeholornis was a primitive bird that is known from both the Hebei and Liaoning provinces of China where individuals of the genus lived during the early cretaceous. At eighty centimetres long from the tip of the snout to the tip of the tail, Jeholornis was quite a large bird for the time. An … Read more
In Depth Palaelodus is the type genus of the Palaelodidae, a sister group to the birds that we today know as flamingos. Though perceived to be flamingo-like, Palaelodus is also noted as being primitive in form to the point that it may have actually swum through the water instead of only wading through it. The … Read more
In Depth Closely related to the genus Hongshanornis, Longicrusavis was an early bird that lived in China during the Early Cretaceous. Also like Hongshanornis, Longicrusavis is usually portrayed as an early wading bird that would have scoured shallows of lake edges looking for small invertebrates to eat. Further Reading - A new ornithuromorph (Aves: Ornithothoraces) … Read more
In Depth Further Reading - Description of Dinornis crassus - Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1846: 46 - Richard Owen - 1846. - Avium systema naturale - Expedition der vollst�ndigsten Naturgeschichte - Ludwig Reichenbach - 1852. - Nuclear DNA sequences detect species limits in ancient moa - Nature 425 (6954): 175–178 - Leon … Read more
In Depth Sapeornis is named from a combination of SAPE and the Ancient Greek ‘ornis’ which means bird. SAPE is actually an acronym for the Society of Avian Palaeontology and Evolution. Also in 2002 another genus of bird named Omnivoropteryx was created by Stephen Czerkas and Qiang Ji. Omnivoropteryx was established as being separate to … Read more