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| Pelagornis Temporal range: Late Oligocene – Early Pleistocene | |
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| An artist's illustration of Pelagornis sandersi | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | †Odontopterygiformes |
| Family: | †Pelagornithidae |
| Genus: | †Pelagornis Lartet, 1857 |
| Type species | |
| †Pelagornis miocaenus Lartet, 1857 | |
| Referred species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Pelagornis is a widespread genus of the prehistoric pseudotooth birds. These were probably rather close relatives of either pelicans and storks, or of waterfowl, and are here placed in the order Odontopterygiformes to account for this uncertainty.
Description
The fossil specimens show that P. miocaenus was one of the larger pseudotooth birds, hardly smaller in size than Osteodontornis or the older Dasornis.
Taxonomy
Four species have been formally described, but several other named taxa of pseudotooth birds might belong in Pelagornis too.
Synonyms and Relationships
In the Media
ARK: Survival Evolved Pelagornis
Gallery
.png "Miocene Pelican (Palegornis).png (628 KB)")
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