Вот еще хорошая птичка: Osteodontornis - With a wingspan of 5,5-6 m (c.18-20 ft) and a height of 1,20 m (4 ft) when on the ground! - внушительная птица, вторая по величине после аргентависа!
Osteodontornis is an extinct genus of pelecaniform bird. It contains a single described species, O. orri ("Orr's Bony-toothed Bird"), which was the first of the Pelagornithidae or "pseudo-tooth birds" to become known to science. The arrangement of serrations of the bill - one small "tooth", sometimes flanked by small points, between each 2 larger ones - is characteristic for this genus. This species is well documented (although usually by much fragmented remains due to the thin and tender bones it had) from various locations, between Early Oligocene and Pliocene in age, in Europe, Western North America and Japan. Most importantly, it was found in Early and Middle Miocene sites on both sides of the North Pacific. It is not certain whether all Osteodontornis remains belong to a single species; size differences suggest that some evolution took place during the considerable timespan in which the genus existed. Thus, some fossils are referred to Osteodontornis only, without further assigning them to this species.
http://www.western-alliance.net/cabriloboy/epicpix/dc/osteodontornis.htmlWith a wingspan of 5,5-6 m (c.18-20 ft) and a height of 1,20 m (4 ft) when on the ground (Olson, 1985), Osteodontornis orri was the second-largest flying bird ever, surpassed only by Argentavis. It had a robust, but extremely light-boned body, procellariiform-like legs and a long beak with teeth-like serrations (not unlike the saw-billed ducks) that ended in a hooked tip. This beak was so heavy the creature probably held it between its shoulders while in flight, just like modern pelicans do.
Osteodontornis' wings were long and narrow. Due to its size, the creature is presumed to have built its nest on high plateaus where it could easily take flight. It was a seabird that apparently lived mainly off squid; the "teeth" were less saw-like than in the fish-eating saw-billed ducks, pointing straight downwards instead. This arrangement would have helped to hold on to such soft-bodied prey. In general lifestyle, it was probably most similar to the albatrosses, tropicbirds and frigatebirds of today, with long slender winds adapted for soaring vast distances over the open seas.
The species was named after then-recently deceased naturalist Ellison Orr.
[edit] References
Howard, Hildegarde (1957): A gigantic "toothed" marine bird from the Miocene of California. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Bulleting (Geology Department) 1: 1-23.
Matsuoka, Hirosige; Sakakura, Fujio & Ohe, Fumio (1998): A Miocene pseudodontorn (Pelecaniformes: Pelagornithidae) from the Ichishi Group of Misato, Mie Prefecture, Central Japan. Paleontological Research 2(4): 246-252. HTML abstract
Olson, Storrs L. (1985): The fossil record of birds. In: Farner, D. S.; King, J. R. & Parkes, K. C. (eds.): Avian Biology 8: 79-252.
Rincón, Ascanio D. & Stucchiu, Marcelo (2003): Primer registro de la familia Pelagornithidae (Aves: Pelecaniformes) para Venezuela. Bol. Soc. Venezolana Espel. 37(37): 27-30. [Article in Spanish with English abstract] HTML fulltext
Stidham, Thomas A. (2004): New skull material of Osteodontornis orri (Aves: Pelagornithidae) from the Miocene of California. PaleoBios (Berkeley) 24(1): 7-12 HTML abstract
. It is classified in the family Pelagornithidae and the order Pelecaniformes. Fossils of this bird have been found in Japan and California. This excerpt of Pelecaniformes - Evowiki discusses Osteodontornis:The pseudodontorns, most readily homogenized within a single family, the Pelagornithidae (Feduccia 1996), are among the most spectacular of all fossil birds. Enormous marine gliders characterized by massive bills with tooth-like dentaries, these birds are arguably the most thin-boned and light-weight of all gliding forms. Howard (1957) estimated that the wingspan of Osteodontornis orri at more than 4.8 meters. Olson (1985a) revised this estimate upon review of further material and presented a figure of 5.5 - 6.0 meters (18-20 feet). Zusi & Warheit (1992) argued that based upon their size and gliding manifestations, pseudodontornis fed in the fashion of boobies or tropic birds, or alternatively in a frigatebird style. Olson (1985a) argued that they primarily fed on soft-bodied prey such as squid based on the structure of the pseudo-teeth for which these birds were named. They were cosmopolitan birds of the Tertiary as evidenced by the range of their fossils (Tonni 1980a, Olson 1985).Thomas A. Stidham wrote an article about a fossil skull of Osteodontornis. The title is New Skull Material of Osteodontornis orri (Aves: Pelagornithidae) from the Miocene of California. It was published in PaleoBios 24:7-12. This excerpt from the abstract says:New material of the bony-toothed bird Osteodontornis from the middle Miocene Round Mountain Silt on Sharktooth Hill, Kern County, California clarifies the identification of some Asian Osteodontornis material and provides previously unreported morphological details of the rostrum of Osteodontornis and pelagornithids. This material is approximately the same age as the O. orri holotype and some of the referred Osteodontornis material from California and is younger than the Osteodontornis material from Japan.Stidham mentions that the neurovascular groove on the medial surface of the dentary is a morphological characteristic that the Sharktooth Hill speciman has in common with the one found in Japan. He also states that the new specimens are fairly different morphometrically from older material. Stidham makes another point about the find in this excerpt:The new material supports the assignation of the Japanese material to O. orri, and suggests that O. orri either had greater variation in size among individuals than currently is recognized or possibly underwent size change over its geologic history.Pelecaniformes were widely distributed during the Miocene. The fact that Osteodontornis fossils have been found in both Japan and California shows that this species had quite a distribution. Neal RobbinsP.S. The taxonomy of Osteodontornis is:Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ChordataClass: AvesOrder: PelecaniformesFamily: PelagornithidaeGenus: OsteodontornisSpecies Osteodontornis orri)
