Abstract
The Tinamiformes were long considered to be the sister group of the flightless palaeognathous birds, which were classified as “ratites”. However, current molecular analyses congruently supported a clade including the Tinamiformes, Casuariiormes, and Apterygiformes. Accordingly, flightlessness must have evolved independently within several palaeognathous lineages, as has already been assumed by some earlier authors. The distribution of extant palaeognathous birds is mainly restricted to the Southern Hemisphere, but several fossil taxa were reported from the Paleogene of Europe and North America. Most interesting from an evolutionary point of view are various long-legged, crane-like birds from Eurasia and North America, which are likely to be stem group representatives of the Struthioniformes. Rheiformes and Casuariiformes have a Paleogene fossil record in their current ranges, whereas Paleogene fossils of the Tinamiformes, Dinornithiformes, Apterygiformes, and Aepyornithiformes have not yet been found.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Agnolin FL (2017) Unexpected diversity of ratites (Aves, Palaeognathae) in the early Cenozoic of South America: palaeobiogeographical implications. Alcheringa 41:101–111
Alvarenga HMF (1983) Uma ave ratitae do Paleoceno Brasileiro: bacia calcária de Itaboraí, Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Bol mus nac, Geol 41:1–8
Alvarenga HMF (2010) Diogenornis fragilis Alvarenga, 1985, restudied: a South American ratite closely related to Casuariidae. 25th International Ornithological Congress, abstracts:143
Andrews CW (1904) On the pelvis and hind-limb of Mullerornis betsilei M.-Edw. & Grand.; with a note on the occurrence of a ratite bird in the Upper Eocene beds of the Fayum, Egypt. Proc Zool Soc Lond 1904:163–171
Bertelli S, Chiappe LM (2005) Earliest tinamous (Aves: Palaeognathae) from the Miocene of Argentina and their phylogenetic position. Contrib Sci 502:1–20
Bibi F, Shabel AB, Kraatz BP, Stidham TA (2006) New fossil ratite (Aves: Palaeognathae) eggshell discoveries from the late Miocene Baynunah Formation of the United Arab Emirates, Arabian Peninsula. Palaeontol Electron 9.1(2A):1–13
Boles WE (1992) Revision of Dromaius gidju Patterson and Rich 1987 from Riversleigh, Northwestern Queensland, Australia, with a reassessment of its generic position. In: Campbell KE (ed) Papers in avian paleontology honoring Pierce Brodkorb. Nat Hist Mus Los Angeles Cty, Sci Ser 36:195–208
Boles WE (1997) Hindlimb proportions and locomotion of Emuarius gidju (Patterson & Rich, 1987) (Aves: Casuariidae). Mem Qld Mus 41:235–240
Boles WE (2001) A new emu (Dromaiinae) from the Late Oligocene Etadunna Formation. Emu 101:317–321
Bourdon E, Lindow B (2015) A redescription of Lithornis vulturinus (Aves, Palaeognathae) from the early Eocene Fur Formation of Denmark. Zootaxa 4032:493–514
Bourdon E, Mourer-Chauviré C, Laurent Y (2016) Early Eocene birds from La Borie, southern France. Acta Palaeontol Polon 61:175–190
Buffetaut E, Angst D (2014) Stratigraphic distribution of large flightless birds in the Palaeogene of Europe and its palaeobiological and palaeogeographical implications. Earth-Sci Rev 138:394–408
Buffetaut E, de Ploëg G (2020) Giant birds from the uppermost Paleocene of Rivecourt (Oise, northern France). Bol Centro Português Geo-Hist Pré-Hist 2:29–33
Burchak-Abramovich NI (1951) [Urmiornis (Urmiornis maraghanus Mecq.) ostrich-like bird of the Hipparion fauna of Transcaucasia and southern Ukraine.] Izv Akad. Nauk Az SSR 6:83–94. [In Russian]
Case JA, Woodburne MO, Chaney DS (1987) A gigantic phororhacoid (?) bird from Antarctica. J Paleontol 61:1280–1284
Cenizo MM (2012) Review of the putative Phorusrhacidae from the Cretaceous and Paleogene of Antarctica: new records of ratites and pelagornithid birds. Pol Polar Res 33:239–258
Clarke JA, Norell MA, Dashzeveg D (2005) New avian remains from the Eocene of Mongolia and the phylogenetic position of the Eogruidae (Aves, Gruoidea). Am Mus Novit 3494:1–17
Covacevich V, Rich PV (1982) New bird ichnites from Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, West Antarctica. In: Craddock C (ed) Antarctic Geoscience. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, pp 245–254
Cracraft J (1969) Systematics and evolution of the Gruiformes (class Aves). 1. The Eocene family Geranoididae and the early history of the Gruiformes. Am Mus Novit 2388:1–41
Cracraft J (1973) Systematics and evolution of the Gruiformes (class Aves). 3. Phylogeny of the suborder Grues. Bull Am Mus Nat Hist 151:1–127
De Pietri VL, Scofield RP, Zelenkov N, Boles WE, Worthy TH (2016) The unexpected survival of an ancient lineage of anseriform birds into the Neogene of Australia: the youngest record of Presbyornithidae. Roy Soc Open Sci 3:150635
Elzanowski A, Galton PM (1991) Braincase of Enaliornis, an early Cretaceous bird from England. J Vertebr Paleontol 11:90–107
Feduccia A (1980) The age of birds. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Feduccia A (1999) The origin and evolution of birds, 2nd edn. Yale University Press, New Haven
Grellet-Tinner G, Dyke GJ (2005) The eggshell of the Eocene bird Lithornis. Acta Palaeontol Pol 50:831–835
Hackett SJ, Kimball RT, Reddy S, Bowie RCK, Braun EL, Braun MJ, Chojnowski JL, Cox WA, Han K-L, Harshman J, Huddleston CJ, Marks BD, Miglia KJ, Moore WS, Sheldon FH, Steadman DW, Witt CC, Yuri T (2008) A phylogenomic study of birds reveals their evolutionary history. Science 320:1763–1767
Harshman J, Braun EL, Braun MJ, Huddleston CJ, Bowie RCK, Chojnowski JL, Hackett SJ, Han K-L, Kimball RT, Marks BD, Miglia KJ, Moore WS, Reddy S, Sheldon FH, Steadman DW, Steppan SJ, Witt CC, Yuri T (2008) Phylogenomic evidence for multiple losses of flight in ratite birds. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 36:13462–13467
Houde P (1986) Ostrich ancestors found in the Northern Hemisphere suggest new hypothesis of ratite origin. Nature 324:563–565
Houde P (1988) Palaeognathous birds from the early Tertiary of the Northern Hemisphere. Publ Nuttall Ornithol Club 22:1–148
Houde P, Haubold H (1987) Palaeotis weigelti restudied: a small middle Eocene ostrich (Aves: Struthioniformes). Palaeovertebr 17:27–42
Houde P, Olson SL (1981) Palaeognathous carinate birds from the early Tertiary of North America. Science 214:1236–1237
Kohring R, Hirsch KF (1996) Crocodilian and avian eggshells from the middle Eocene of the Geiseltal, eastern Germany. J Vertebr Paleontol 16:67–80
Kristoffersen AV (1999) Lithornithid birds (Aves, Palaeognathae) from the lower Palaeogene of Denmark. Geol Mijnb 78:375–381
Kuhl H, Frankl-Vilches C, Bakker A, Mayr G, Nikolaus G, Boerno ST, Klages S, Timmermann B, Gahr M (2021) An unbiased molecular approach using 3’UTRs resolves the avian family-level tree of life. Mol Biol Evol 38:108–121
Kurochkin EN (1976) A survey of the Paleogene birds of Asia. Smithson Contrib Paleobiol 27:5–86
Kurochkin EN (1981) [New representatives and evolution of two archaic gruiform families in Eurasia]. Trudy Sovmest Sovetsko-Mongolskaja Paleontol Ekspedit 15:59–85 [in Russian]
Kurochkin EN (1982) On the evolutionary pathways of didactylous Tertiary gruids under increasing aridization. In: Novak VJA, Mlíkovský J (eds) Evolution and environment. CSAV, Prague, pp 731–736
Lambrecht K (1928) Palaeotis Weigelti n. g. n. sp., eine fossile Trappe aus der mitteleozänen Braunkohle des Geiseltales. Jahrb Halleschen Verb Erforsch mitteldtsch Bodenschätze. N F 7:1–11
Lambrecht K (1929) Ergebnisse der Forschungsreisen Prof. E. Stromers in den Wüsten Ägyptens. V. Tertiäre Wirbeltiere. 4. Stromeria fajumensis n. g., n. sp., die kontinentale Stammform der Aepyornithidae, mit einer Übersicht über die fossilen Vögel Madagaskars und Afrikas. Abh Bayer Akad Wiss Math-naturwiss Abt, N F, 4:1–18
Lambrecht K (1935) Drei neue Vogelformen aus dem Lutétian des Geiseltales. Nova Acta Leopold, N F 3:361–367
Leonard L, Dyke GJ, van Tuinen M (2005) A new specimen of the fossil palaeognath Lithornis from the lower Eocene of Denmark. Am Mus Novit 3491:1–11
Livezey BC, Zusi RL (2007) Higher-order phylogeny of modern birds (Theropoda, Aves: Neornithes) based on comparative anatomy: II.—analysis and discussion. Zool J Linnean Soc 149:1–94
Martin LD (1992) The status of the Late Paleocene birds Gastornis and Remiornis. In: Campbell KE (ed) Papers in avian paleontology honoring Pierce Brodkorb. Nat Hist Mus Los Angeles Cty, Sci Ser 36:97–108
Mayr G (2002) Avian remains from the Middle Eocene of the Geiseltal (Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany). In: Zhou Z, Zhang F (eds) Proceedings of the 5th symposium of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution, Beijing, 1–4 June 2000. Science Press, Beijing, pp 77–96
Mayr G (2007) The birds from the Paleocene fissure filling of Walbeck (Germany). J Vertebr Paleontol 27:394–408
Mayr G (2008) First substantial Middle Eocene record of the Lithornithidae (Aves): a postcranial skeleton from Messel (Germany). Ann Paléontol 94:29–37
Mayr G (2009a) Towards the complete bird—the skull of the middle Eocene Messel lithornithid (Aves, Lithornithidae). Bull Inst Roy Sci Nat Belg 79:169–173
Mayr G (2009b) Paleogene fossil birds, 1st edn. Springer, Heidelberg
Mayr G (2015) The middle Eocene European “ratite” Palaeotis (Aves, Palaeognathae) restudied once more. Paläontol Z 89:503–514
Mayr G (2016) On the taxonomy and osteology of the early Eocene North American Geranoididae (Aves, Gruoidea). Swiss J Palaeontol 135:315–325
Mayr G (2017) Avian evolution: the fossil record of birds and its paleobiological significance. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester
Mayr G (2019) Hindlimb morphology of Palaeotis suggests palaeognathous affinities of the Geranoididae and other “crane-like” birds from the Eocene of the Northern Hemisphere. Acta Palaeontol Polon 64:669–678
Mayr G, Smith T (2019) New Paleocene bird fossils from the North Sea Basin in Belgium and France. Geol Belg 22:35–46
Mayr G, Zelenkov N (2021) Extinct crane-like birds (Eogruidae and Ergilornithidae) from the Cenozoic of Central Asia are ostrich precursors. Ornithology 138:1–15
Mlíkovský J (2002) Cenozoic birds of the world. Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press, Praha
Mourer-Chauviré C, Senut B, Pickford M, Mein P (1996) Le plus ancien représentant du genre Struthio (Aves, Struthionidae), Struthio coppensi n. sp., du Miocène inférieur de Namibie. C R Acad Sci Paris 322:325–332
Musser G, Li Z, Clarke JA (2020) A new species of Eogruidae (Aves: Gruiformes) from the Miocene of the Linxia Basin, Gansu, China: Evolutionary and climatic implications. Auk 137:ukz067
Nesbitt SJ, Clarke JA (2016) The anatomy and taxonomy of the exquisitely preserved Green River Formation (early Eocene) lithornithids (Aves) and the relationships of Lithornithidae. Bull Am Mus Nat Hist 406:1–91
Olson SL (1985) The fossil record of birds. In: Farner DS, King JR, Parkes KC (eds) Avian biology, vol 8. Academic Press, New York, pp 79–238
Parris DC, Hope S (2002) New interpretations of the birds from the Navesink and Hornerstown Formations, New Jersey, USA (Aves: Neornithes). In: Zhou Z, Zhang F (eds) Proceedings of the 5th symposium of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution, 1–4 June 2000. Science Press, Beijing, pp 113–124
Peters DS (1988) Ein vollständiges Exemplar von Palaeotis weigelti (Aves, Palaeognathae). Cour Forsch-Inst Senckenberg 107:223–233
Portis A (1885) Contribuzioni alla ornitolitologia italiana. Mem Reale Accad SciTorino 36:361–384
Prum RO, Berv JS, Dornburg A, Field DJ, Townsend JP, Lemmon EM, Lemmon AR (2015) A comprehensive phylogeny of birds (Aves) using targeted next-generation DNA sequencing. Nature 526:569–573
Rasmussen DT, Olson SL, Simons EL (1987) Fossil birds from the Oligocene Jebel Qatrani Formation, Fayum Province, Egypt. Smithson Contrib Paleobiol 62:1–20
Rasmussen DT, Simons EL, Hertel F, Judd A (2001) Hindlimb of a giant terrestrial bird from the Upper Eocene, Fayum, Egypt. Palaeontology 44:325–337
Sauer EGF (1969) Evidence and evolutionary interpretation of Psammornis. Bonner zool Beitr 20:290–310
Sibley CG, Ahlquist JE (1990) Phylogeny and classification of birds: a study in molecular evolution. Yale University Press, New Haven
Stidham TA, Lofgren D, Farke AA, Paik M, Choi R (2014) A lithornithid (Aves: Palaeognathae) from the Paleocene (Tiffanian) of southern California. PaleoBios 31:1–7
Tambussi CP (1995) The fossil Rheiformes from Argentina. Cour Forsch-Inst Senckenberg 181:121–129
Tambussi CP, Acosta Hospitaleche C (2007) Antarctic birds (Neornithes) during the Cretaceous-Eocene times. Rev Asoc Geol Argent 62:604–617
Tambussi CP, Noriega JI, Gaździcki A, Tatur A, Reguero MA, Vizcaino SF (1994) Ratite bird from the Paleogene La Meseta Formation, Seymour Island, Antarctica. Pol Polar Res 15:15–20
Tennyson AJ, Worthy TH, Jones CM, Scofield RP, Hand SJ (2010) Moa’s ark: Miocene fossils reveal the great antiquity of moa (Aves: Dinornithiformes) in Zealandia. Rec Austral Mus 62:105–114
Torres CR, Norell MA, Clarke JA (2020) Estimating flight style of early Eocene stem palaeognath bird Calciavis grandei (Lithornithidae). Anat Rec 303:1035–1042
Wetmore A (1933) An Oligocene eagle from Wyoming. Smithson Misc Collect 87:1–9
Wetmore A (1934) Fossil birds from Mongolia and China. Am Mus Novit 711:1–16
Worthy T, Worthy JP, Tennyson AJD, Salisbury SW, Hand SJ, Scofield RP (2013) Miocene fossils show that kiwi (Apteryx, Apterygidae) are probably not phyletic dwarves. In: Göhlich UB, Kroh A (eds) Paleornithological research 2013—Proceedings of the 8th international meeting of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution. Natural History Museum Vienna, Vienna, pp 63–80
Worthy TH, Hand SJ, Archer M (2014) Phylogenetic relationships of the Australian Oligo-Miocene ratite Emuarius gidju Casuariidae. Integrat Zool 9:148–166
Worthy TH, Degrange FJ, Handley WD, Lee MS (2017) The evolution of giant flightless birds and novel phylogenetic relationships for extinct fowl (Aves, Galloanseres). Roy Soc Open Sci 4(10):170975
Zelenkov NV, Kurochkin EN (2015) Class Aves. In Kurochkin EN, Lopatin AV, Zelenkov NV (eds) Fossil vertebrates of Russia and neighbouring countries. Fossil reptiles and birds. Part 2. GEOS, Moscow, p 86–290 [in Russian]
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mayr, G. (2022). Palaeognathous Birds. In: Paleogene Fossil Birds. Fascinating Life Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87645-6_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87645-6_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-87644-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-87645-6
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)