Protopelicanus

Last updated

Protopelicanus
Temporal range: Late Eocene
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: incertae sedis
Family: incertae sedis
Genus: Protopelicanus
Reichenbach, 1852 [1]
Species:
P. cuvierii
Binomial name
Protopelicanus cuvierii
Reichenbach, 1852

Protopelicanus cuvierii is a putative fossil waterbird of uncertain affinities. It was briefly described and figured by Georges Cuvier in 1822 from Late Eocene material from Montmartre, France, though not formally described and named until 1852 by German botanist and ornithologist Ludwig Reichenbach as an early pelecanid. The original material comprised the cranial part of a left scapula and a nearly complete left femur. The lectotype femur was thought by Michel Brunet in 1970 to be typical of a pelican. However, Colin Harrison in 1979 considered that it belonged to the Sulidae, and Storrs Olson in 1995 thought it might be a pelagornithid. The femur is held by the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris (No.7978); the location of the scapular fragment is unknown. [1]

Related Research Articles

<i>Antarctosaurus</i> Sauropod dinosaur genus from Late Cretaceous

Antarctosaurus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now South America. The type species, Antarctosaurus wichmannianus, and a second species, Antarctosaurus giganteus, were described by prolific German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene in 1929. Three additional species of Antarctosaurus have been named since then but later studies have considered them dubious or unlikely to pertain to the genus.

<i>Argyrosaurus</i> Genus of herbivorous titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur

Argyrosaurus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur that lived about 70 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now Argentina.

<i>Timimus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Timimus is a genus of small coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Australia. It was originally identified as an ornithomimosaur, but now it is thought to be a different kind of theropod, possibly a tyrannosauroid.

<i>Hypselosaurus</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Hypselosaurus is a dubious genus of titanosaurian sauropod that lived in southern France during the Late Cretaceous, approximately 70 million years ago in the early Maastrichtian. Hypselosaurus was first described in 1846, but was not formally named until 1869, when Phillip Matheron named it under the binomial Hypselosaurus priscus. The holotype specimen includes a partial hindlimb and a pair of caudal vertebrae, and two eggshell fragments were found alongside these bones. Because of the proximity of these eggshells to the fossil remains, many later authors, including Matheron and Paul Gervais, have assigned several eggs from the same region of France all to Hypselosaurus, although the variation and differences between these eggs suggest that they do not all belong to the same taxon. Hypselosaurus has been found in the same formation as the dromaeosaurids Variraptor and Pyroraptor, the ornithopod Rhabdodon, and the ankylosaurian Rhodanosaurus, as well as indeterminate bones from other groups.

Podokesaurus is a genus of coelophysoid dinosaur that lived in what is now the eastern United States during the Early Jurassic Period. The first fossil was discovered by the geologist Mignon Talbot near Mount Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1910. The specimen was fragmentary, preserving much of the body, limbs, and tail. In 1911, Talbot described and named the new genus and species Podokesaurus holyokensis based on it. The full name can be translated as "swift-footed lizard of Holyoke". This discovery made Talbot the first woman to find and describe a non-bird dinosaur. The holotype fossil was recognized as significant and was studied by other researchers, but was lost when the building it was kept in burned down in 1917; no unequivocal Podokesaurus specimens have since been discovered. It was made state dinosaur of Massachusetts in 2022.

<i>Elopteryx</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

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.

<i>Chindesaurus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Chindesaurus is an extinct genus of basal saurischian dinosaur from the Late Triassic of the southwestern United States. It is known from a single species, C. bryansmalli, based on a partial skeleton recovered from Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. The original specimen was nicknamed "Gertie", and generated much publicity for the park upon its discovery in 1984 and airlift out of the park in 1985. Other fragmentary referred specimens have been found in Late Triassic sediments throughout Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, but these may not belong to the genus. Chindesaurus was a bipedal carnivore, approximately as large as a wolf.

<i>Erectopus</i> Extinct species of reptile

Erectopus is an extinct genus of basal allosauroid theropod from the Early Cretaceous La Penthiève Beds Formation of France and also possibly the Cernavodă Formation of southern Romania. The type species is E. superbus, which was initially known as a species of Megalosaurus.

<i>Lagerpeton</i> Extinct genus of reptiles

Lagerpeton is a genus of lagerpetid avemetatarsalian, comprising a single species, L. chanarensis. First described from the Chañares Formation of Argentina by A. S. Romer in 1971, Lagerpeton's anatomy is somewhat incompletely known, with fossil specimens accounting for the pelvic girdle, hindlimbs, posterior presacral, sacral and anterior caudal vertebrae. Skull and shoulder material has also been described.

<i>Poposaurus</i> Extinct genus of Archosaur

Poposaurus is an extinct genus of pseudosuchian archosaur from the Late Triassic of the southwestern United States. It belongs to the clade Poposauroidea, an unusual group of Triassic pseudosuchians that includes sail-backed, beaked, and aquatic forms. Fossils have been found in Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, and Texas. Except for the skull, most parts of the skeleton are known. The type species, P. gracilis, was described and named by Maurice Goldsmith Mehl in 1915. A second species, P. langstoni, was originally the type species of the genus Lythrosuchus. Since it was first described, Poposaurus has been variously classified as a dinosaur, a phytosaur, and a "rauisuchian".

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.

<i>Gargantuavis</i> Extinct genus of birds

Gargantuavis is an extinct genus of large, primitive bird containing the single species Gargantuavis philoinos. It is the only member of the monotypic family Gargantuaviidae. Its fossils were discovered in several formations dating to 73.5 and 71.5 million years ago in what is now northern Spain, southern France, and Romania. Gargantuavis is the largest known bird of the Mesozoic, a size ranging between the cassowary and the ostrich, and a mass of 141 kg (311 lb) like modern ostriches, exemplifying the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs was not a necessary condition for the emergence of giant terrestrial birds. It was once thought to be closely related to modern birds, but the 2019 discovery of a pelvis from what was Hateg Island shows several primitive features.

The pile-builder megapode is an extinct species of megapode. The subfossil remains were found by Jean-Christophe Balouet and Storrs L. Olson in the Pindai Caves of New Caledonia. Its remains have also been found on Tonga.

<i>Amphicoelias</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Amphicoelias is a genus of herbivorous sauropod dinosaur that lived approximately 150 million years ago during the Tithonian of what is now Colorado, United States. Amphicoelias was moderately sized at about 18 metres (59 ft) in length and 15 metric tons in body mass, shorter than its close relative Diplodocus. Its hindlimbs were very long and thin, and its forelimbs were proportionally longer than in relatives.

<i>Cruxicheiros</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Cruxicheiros is a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived in the Middle Jurassic of England. The type species is C. newmanorum, described by Roger Benson and Jonathan Radley in 2010.

<i>Meroktenos</i> Extinct genus of dinosaur from Triassic southern Africa

Meroktenos is a genus of basal sauropodomorph dinosaur that lived during the Late Triassic period of what is now Lesotho.

Giganhinga is a genus of giant darter that lived during the Late Miocene to Early Pleistocene in what is now Uruguay and Argentina. The largest species of anhinga known to science, estimates suggest it may have weighed around 17.7 kg (39 lb) and was likely flightless. Its weight likely helped it dive for prey and the anatomy of the pelvis indicates that it was a good and maneuverable swimmer. Only a single species is currently recognized, G. kiyuensis.

<i>Pseudoprepotherium</i> Extinct genus of ground sloths

Pseudoprepotherium is an extinct genus of sloths of the family Mylodontidae. It was widespread across northern South America during the Early to Late Miocene epoch around 21 to 5.3 million years ago. Fossils of the animal have been found in Brazil, Venezuela, and Peru. Pseudoprepotherium lived in a tropical climate with a water-rich environment. Their known remains are limited to limb bones, except for a few skulls and teeth. Based on these remains, they were most likely medium to large-sized mylodontid. The genus was described in 1961 and currently contains three species, which were originally assigned to the genus Prepotherium.

<i>Solitudo</i> Extinct genus of turtle

Solitudo is an extinct genus of tortoise that was found during the Pliocene and Pleistocene on the Mediterranean islands of Menorca, Malta and Sicily. The genus includes three described species, Solitudo robusta, Solitudo gymnesica and Solitudo sicula as well as a likely fourth, undescribed species from Monte Pellegrino in Sicily. Solitudo sicula, the youngest of the species, died out approximately 12.5 thousand years BP. The largest species, Solitudo gymnesica, has been estimated to have reached a carapace length of 1.1–1.3 m (3.6–4.3 ft).

Phoeniconaias proeses is an extinct species of flamingo from the Pliocene of Australia. Fossil material was described under several names including Ocyplanus proeses and Phoeniconaias gracilis, which were eventually found to be synonymous. Only material from the Tirari Formation has been dated, while most other material lacks precise information on its age. P. proeses was one of the smallest species of flamingo, smaller than the modern lesser flamingo which it may be related to.

References

  1. 1 2 Mlíkovský, Jiří (1995). "Nomenclatural and taxonomic status of fossil birds described by H. G. L. Reichenbach in 1852" (PDF). Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg. 181: 311–316. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-10-06. Retrieved 2012-05-05.