| Podiceps oligoceanus Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Podicipediformes |
| Family: | Podicipedidae |
| Genus: | Podiceps |
| Species: | †P. oligoceanus |
| Binomial name | |
| †Podiceps oligoceanus (Shufeldt, 1915) | |
| Synonyms | |
Colymbus oligoceanusShufeldt, 1915 | |
Podiceps oligoceanus is an extinct species of grebe possibly from the Neogene period which the specimen has been found in the United States.
The species was part of a major paper that was commissioned by professor Charles Schuchert in 1914 in which he had Robert Wilson Shufeldt for revision of the type specimens of fossil birds that were described by Othniel Charles Marsh for the Peabody Museum of Natural History. [1]
The femur of the holotype (YPM 983) is similar to grebes of the genus Aechmophorus and the red-necked grebe (P. grisegena), though the shaft is slender and heavier. [1] [2]
Initially the species was placed in the now defunct genus Colymbus by Shufeldt (1915) (Colymbus oligoceanus), [1] it has since been reclassified into the genus Podiceps .
The holotype femur was found at the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. The age of P. oligoceanus is uncertain. Shufeldt (1915) tentatively assign the species of Oligocene age, [1] while Brodkorb (1963) believed the species is of Early Miocene age. [3] There are doubts, however, that P. oligoceanus could also be from the Pleistocene epoch due to how similar it is to modern grebes. [2]
Gaviiformes is an order of aquatic birds containing the loons or divers and their closest extinct relatives. Modern gaviiformes are found in many parts of North America and northern Eurasia, though prehistoric species were more widespread.
Loons or divers are a group of aquatic birds found in much of North America and northern Eurasia. All living species of loons are members of the genus Gavia, family Gaviidae and order Gaviiformes.
Grebes are aquatic diving birds in the order Podicipediformes. Grebes are widely distributed freshwater birds, with some species also found in marine habitats during migration and winter. Most grebes fly, although some flightless species exist, most notably in stable lakes. The order contains a single family, the Podicipedidae, which includes 22 species in six extant genera.
Hesperornis is a genus of cormorant-like Ornithuran that spanned throughout the Campanian age, and possibly even up to the early Maastrichtian age, of the Late Cretaceous period. One of the lesser-known discoveries of the paleontologist O. C. Marsh in the late 19th century Bone Wars, it was an early find in the history of avian paleontology. Locations for Hesperornis fossils include the Late Cretaceous marine limestones from Kansas and the marine shales from Canada. Nine species are recognised, eight of which have been recovered from rocks in North America and one from Russia.
Podiceps is a genus of birds in the grebe family. The genus name comes from Latin podicis, "rear-end" and ped, "foot", and is a reference to the placement of a grebe's legs towards the rear of its body.
Elopteryx is a genus of, perhaps troodontid, maniraptoran theropod dinosaur based on fragmentary fossils found in late Cretaceous Period rocks of Romania. The single species, Elopteryx nopcsai, is known only from very incomplete material, and therefore is considered a nomen dubium by most paleontologists.
Paraptenodytes brodkorbi is a proposed, but possibly invalid, species of extinct penguin in the genus Paraptenodytes. The bird was probably about the size of a king penguin. Known material is limited to a single humerus, Early Miocene in age, found in the Monte León Formation near Puerto San Julián in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. It exists as an unnumbered specimen in the collection of the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales.
Laopteryx is the name assigned to a pterosaur from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of Wyoming, United States; it was originally thought to be a bird.
Palaeochenoides is a genus of the prehistoric pseudotooth birds of somewhat doubtful validity. These were probably rather close relatives of either pelicans and storks, or of waterfowl, and are here placed in the order Odontopterygiformes to account for this uncertainty.
Gaviella is an alleged North American Paleogene gaviiform which the holotype consists of the proximal end of a left carpometacarpus from Wyoming, United States. However, Shufeldt mentioned the location and the age of the fossil was not recorded by J.B. Hatcher and his team who collected it. Shufeldt originally classified this taxon as a species of the living genus Gavia being half the size of the common loon due to some similarity of the carpometacarpus of the aforementioned extant species. In 1940 Wetmore argued the specimen is distinctive enough to, not only belong to its own genus which named Gaviella, but also felt they belong to their own subfamily Gaviellinae. This lead him to believe the specimen originated from the White River Formation.
Thiornis is a fossil genus of Middle Miocene grebe known from a nearly complete specimen from Libros, Spain. Originally classified as a type of moorhen, Thiornis has since been classified as a species of grebe. The overall anatomy of the bird is identical to modern grebes. It contains a single species, T. sociata.
Pliolymbus is a fossil genus of grebe known from the Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene of United States and Mexico. It is known from a single species, P. baryosteus.
Podilymbus majusculus is an extinct species of grebe recovered from the Piacenzian age of the United States.
Podilymbus wetmorei is an extinct species of grebe recovered from the Late Pleistocene age of the United States.
Podiceps dixi is a possible extinct species of grebe from the United States.
Podiceps howardae is a possible extinct species of grebe from the United States, possibly a larger and earlier form of the horned grebe.
Podiceps solidus is an extinct small species of Upper Miocene to Lower Pliocene grebe from Western Mongolia.
Podiceps discors is an extinct species of grebe from the Upper Pliocene of western North America. It was similar to the black-necked grebe.
Podiceps arndti is an extinct species of grebe from the Upper Pliocene of California.