| Dynamopterus Temporal range: Oligocene | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Cuculiformes |
| Family: | Cuculidae |
| Genus: | † Dynamopterus Milne-Edwards, 1892 |
| Species: | †D. velox |
| Binomial name | |
| †Dynamopterus velox Milne-Edwards, 1892 | |
| Synonyms | |
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Dynamopterus velox is a prehistoric bird, known from a single large right humerus recovered in France. The humerus shares anatomical features with living cuckoos (though it is much larger). [1] It has also been classified in the suborder Cariamae in the Gruiformes. [2] Some fossils once thought to be Dynamopterus tuberculatus may actually belong to Perplexicervicidae, a newly identified group of birds with bumpy neck bones that might have helped protect them from predators. [3]
