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Piscator tenuirostris

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Piscator tenuirostris
Temporal range:Eocene
Scientific classificationEdit this 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

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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

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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

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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

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References

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  1. ^abcdMayr, Gerald(April 21, 2009).Paleogene Fossil Birds.Berlin: Springer. pp. 65–67.ISBN978-3-540-89627-2.OCLC302080522.
  2. ^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.
  3. ^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.
  4. ^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.