Galliformes is an order of heavy-bodied ground-feeding birds that includes turkeys, chickens, quail, and other landfowl. Gallinaceous birds, as they are called, are important in their ecosystems as seed dispersers and predators, and are often reared by humans for their meat and eggs, or hunted as game birds.
The megapodes, also known as incubator birds or mound-builders, are stocky, medium-large, chicken-like birds with small heads and large feet in the family Megapodiidae. Their name literally means "large foot" and is a reference to the heavy legs and feet typical of these terrestrial birds. All are browsers, and all except the malleefowl occupy wooded habitats. Most are brown or black in color. Megapodes are superprecocial, hatching from their eggs in the most mature condition of any bird. They hatch with open eyes, bodily coordination and strength, full wing feathers, and downy body feathers, and are able to run, pursue prey, and in some species, fly on the same day they hatch.
Elephant birds are extinct flightless birds belonging to the order Aepyornithiformes that were native to the island of Madagascar. They are thought to have become extinct around 1000 AD, likely as a result of human activity. Elephant birds comprised three species, one in the genus Mullerornis, and two in Aepyornis.Aepyornis maximus is possibly the largest bird to have ever lived, with their eggs being the largest known for any amniote. Elephant birds are palaeognaths, and their closest living relatives are kiwi, suggesting that ratites did not diversify by vicariance during the breakup of Gondwana but instead convergently evolved flightlessness from ancestors that dispersed more recently by flying.
Dromornithidae, known as mihirungs and informally as thunder birds or demon ducks, were a clade of large, flightless Australian birds of the Oligocene through Pleistocene Epochs. All are now extinct. They were long classified in Struthioniformes, but are now usually classified as galloanseres. Dromornithids were part of the Australian megafauna. One species, Dromornis stirtoni, was 3 m tall. Only a single species, Genyornis newtoni survived into the Late Pleistocene. They are thought to have been herbivorous.
Palaeognathae is an infraclass of birds, called paleognaths or palaeognaths, within the class Aves of the clade Archosauria. It is one of the two extant infraclasses of birds, the other being Neognathae, both of which form Neornithes. Palaeognathae contains five extant branches of flightless lineages, termed ratites, and one flying lineage, the Neotropic tinamous. There are 47 species of tinamous, five of kiwis (Apteryx), three of cassowaries (Casuarius), one of emus (Dromaius), two of rheas (Rhea) and two of ostriches (Struthio). Recent research has indicated that paleognaths are monophyletic but the traditional taxonomic split between flightless and flighted forms is incorrect; tinamous are within the ratite radiation, meaning flightlessness arose independently multiple times via parallel evolution.
Aepyornis is an extinct genus of elephant bird formerly endemic to Madagascar. The genus had two species, the smaller A. hildebrandti and the larger A. maximus, which is possibly the largest bird ever to have lived. Its closest living relative is the New Zealand kiwi. They became extinct sometime around 1000 CE, probably as a result of human activity.
Sylviornithidae is an extinct family of flightless birds, known from subfossil bones found in Holocene aged deposits on the Melanesian islands of New Caledonia and Fiji. Traditionally assumed to be within Galliformes, recent phylogenetic studies showcase that they rest outside of the galliform crown-group, making them the most recently lived non-galliform Pangalliformes. For many years it was considered a monotypic family consisting of Sylviornis alone, but recent studies show that Megavitiornis was part of this clade as well.
The Tongan megapode is a species of bird in the megapode family, Megapodiidae, currently endemic to Tonga. The species is also known as the Polynesian megapode, and as the Niuafo'ou megapode after the island of Niuafo'ou to which it was restricted for many years. The specific epithet honours British consul William Thomas Pritchard.
Gastornithiformes were an extinct order of giant flightless fowl with fossils found in North America, Eurasia, and Australia. Members of Gastornithidae were long considered to be a part of the order Gruiformes. However, the traditional concept of Gruiformes has since been shown to be polyphyletic.
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.
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 1980.
Lithornithidae is an extinct, possibly paraphyletic group of early paleognath birds. They are known from fossils dating to the Upper Paleocene through the Middle Eocene of North America and Europe, with possible Late Cretaceous representatives. All are extinct today; the youngest specimen is the currently unnamed SGPIMH MEV1 specimen from the mid-Eocene Messel Pit site.
The Kanaka pigeon, also known as the great green pigeon or greater maned pigeon, is an extinct species of pigeon. It was probably hunted to extinction by the early settlers of New Caledonia and Tonga around 2,500 years ago. It was described from subfossil remains found at the Pindai Caves of New Caledonia. The specific epithet is a Latinisation of kanaka, the name of the native Melanesian people of New Caledonia. It was about 25% larger than its closest living relative, the Nicobar pigeon.
Pangalliformes is the scientific name of a provisional clade of birds within the group Galloanserae. It is defined as all birds more closely related to chickens than to ducks, and includes all modern chickens, turkeys, pheasants, and megapodes, as well as extinct species that do not fall within the crown group Galliformes.
Megavitiornis altirostris is an extinct, flightless, giant stem-galliform bird that was endemic to Fiji, it is the only known species in the genus Megavitiornis. Originally thought to be a megapode, more recent morphological studies indicate a close relationship with Sylviornis of New Caledonia, with both genera belonging to the family Sylviornithidae outside of the Galliformes crown group. It is likely that it became extinct through overhunting shortly after the colonisation of the Fiji Islands by humans.
The Pindai Caves of New Caledonia are an archaeological and palaeontological site important for the study of prehistoric human settlement as well as of the Holocene fauna of the island. The Pindai area has been occupied by humans for varying periods over the last 2,800 years.
The gracile goshawk is an extinct species of bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It was endemic to the island of New Caledonia in Melanesia in the southwest Pacific region. It was described from subfossil bones found at the Pindai Caves paleontological site on the west coast of Grande Terre. The Latin specific epithet quartus means "fourth"; it was the fourth Accipiter species recorded from New Caledonia. The gracile goshawk was smaller and much less robust than its contemporary congener the powerful goshawk, remains of which were also found at the same site.
The New Caledonian barn owl, also referred to as Letocart's barn owl, is an extinct species of owl in the barn owl family. It was endemic to the island of New Caledonia in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific region. It was described from Holocene aged subfossil bones found at the Gilles Cave paleontological site on the west coast of Grande Terre. The holotype is a complete adult left femur, held by the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris. The owl was described as Tyto? letocarti, indicating uncertainty as to generic placement at the time. The specific epithet honours Yves Letocart of New Caledonia's Water and Forest Service, who was active in bird conservation and paleontological work on the island.
The lowland kagu is a large, extinct species of kagu. It was endemic to the island of New Caledonia in Melanesia in the south-west Pacific region. It was described from subfossil bones found at the Pindai Caves paleontological site on the west coast of Grande Terre. The holotype is a right tibiotarsus, held by the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris. The specific epithet comes from the Latin orarius from its presumed lowland distribution, as opposed to its congener the living kagu R. jubatus.
