Piscator tenuirostris
| Piscator tenuirostris Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
Scientific classification
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Suliformes |
| Family: | Phalacrocoracidae |
| Genus: | †Piscator HarrisonandWalker,1976 |
| Species: | †P. tenuirostris
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Piscator tenuirostris Harrison & Walker, 1976
| |
Piscator tenuirostrisis an extinct species ofcormorant-like bird, the only known species in the genusPiscator.
Discovery
[edit]Piscator tenuirostrisis known from an incompleterostrum,the anterior end of apremaxilla,found inHordle, England,in formations dating to thePriabonian,the final age of theEoceneEpoch.[1][2]Thisholotypeis now at theBritish Museum.[3]
It was initially described byColin HarrisonandCyril A. Walkerin 1976, and placed in the familyphalacrocoracidae.[4]It was placed in classAvesincertae sedisby Jiří Mlíkovský in 2002.[2]
A similar sample was found in the Late Eocene-earlyOligoceneJebel Qatrani FormationinFaiyum, Egypt,but whether this sample representsP. tenuirostris,anotherPiscatorspecies, or a different phalacrocoracid is unknown.[1]
Description
[edit]Piscatorwas similar to the extantphalacrocoracidae,apiscivorousfamily of aquatic birds.[4]Remains were found in theBracklesham GroupinHordle, England,which dates to thePriabonian,the last age of theEoceneepoch.[4][2]
Taxonomy
[edit]The genus was introduced byCyril A. Walkerand Colin Harrison in 1976.[4]It was placed in classAvesincertae sedisby Jiří Mlíkovský in 2002.[2]The wordpiscatorisLatinfor "fisherman." Other fossils may also represent species in this genus, but they have not been described as such, with some residing in private collections.[4]
P. tenuirostrisis the oldest discovered cormorant-like bird in thefossil record.[1]It is thetype specimenof its genus, and the only species ofPiscatorcurrently described.[1][2]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^abcdMayr, Gerald(April 21, 2009).Paleogene Fossil Birds.Berlin: Springer. pp. 65–67.ISBN978-3-540-89627-2.OCLC302080522.
- ^abcdeMlíkovsky, Jirí (2002).Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe(PDF).Prague: Ninox Press. p. 268. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2011-05-20.
- ^Brodkorb, Pierce(1978)."CATALOGUE OF FOSSIL BIRDS"(PDF).Bulletin of the Florida State Museum Biological Sciences.23(3): 216 – via Florida State Museum of the University of Florida.
- ^abcdeHarrison, C. J. O.; Walker, C. A. (1876)."Birds of the British Upper Eocene".Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.59(4): 323–351.doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1976.tb01017.x.