Rhynchaeites

Summary

Rhynchaeites is an extinct genus of Threskiornithidae related to modern ibises and has a single named species Rhynchaeites meselensis. It lived in today's Germany during the mid-Eocene and its remains were found in the famous Messel pit.

Rhynchaeites
Temporal range: Middle Eocene
Rhynchaeites species fossil
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Threskiornithidae
Genus: Rhynchaeites
Wittich, 1898
Species:
R. messelensis
Binomial name
Rhynchaeites messelensis
Wittich, 1898

However, leg bone fossils of a similar bird were found in the Early Eocene Fur Formation in Denmark. It has been hypothesized that the supposed parrot relative Mopsitta tanta, known from a single humerus bone, is the same bird as the leg fossils and thus actually belongs in Rhynchaeites too.

Rhynchaeites messelensis

References edit

  • "The Origin and Evolution of Birds" by Alan Feduccia