Falcatakely forsterae is an extinct genus and species of enantiornithine bird that lived in Madagascar during the Late Cretaceous period around 70-68 million years ago. [1]
Description[]
Falcatakely was a crow-sized stem bird that can be distinguished from all other enantiornitheans by its deep, long rostrum, which is slightly reminiscent of that of a toucan. The describers' phylogenetic analyses all place Falcatakely in the Enantiornithes, though its precise position is unclear. It has been recovered as a basal enantiornithean, the sister taxon of Pengornis, and in a polytomy with many other enantiornitheans.
The Falcatakely is known from the Maevarano Formation, then a swampy floodplain which seasonally alternated between being swampland in the wet season and dry semi-desert during the dry season; it was home to other unusual animals such as Simosuchus, a herbivorous crocodilian, Masiakasaurus, a short-armed, buck-toothed theropod, and Adalatherium, a highly unusual stem-mammal. These forms may have evolved due to Madagascar being an isolated island during the Cretaceous.
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