Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stirton's thunderbird ( Dromornis stirtoni ) in a living reconstruction |
||||||||||||
Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
Oligocene to Pleistocene | ||||||||||||
20 million years to 11,000 years | ||||||||||||
Locations | ||||||||||||
Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Scientific name | ||||||||||||
Dromornithidae | ||||||||||||
Vigors , 1825 |
The thunderbirds (Dromornithidae) were large, flightless birds from Australia and Tasmania . They are also known under the name Riesenemus or in Australia as Mihirungs and belong to the goose birds (Anseriformes). The oldest finds are around 20 million years old.
Dromornis australis and the Stirton thunderbird ( Dromornis stirtoni ) weighed over half a ton and were 3 meters high. Genyornis newtoni still lived in the Pleistocene and was known to the Aborigines . Bones found in human settlements indicate he was hunted. It died out about 11,000 years ago.
Their extinction is due to climate changes, bush fires and possibly hunting.
Systematics
External system
The systematic position of the thunderbirds was interpreted differently as shown in the following cladograms .
- after Murray, 2003
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
- after Agnolin, 2007
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
species
Five genera with eight species are known:
-
Cash value inventory
- Barawertornis tedfordi Rich, 1979
-
Bullockornis
- Bullockornis planei Rich, 1979
-
Dromorness
- Dromornis australis Owen, 1872
- Dromornis murrayi Worthy, Handley, Archer & Hand, 2016
- Stirton's thunderbird ( Dromornis stirtoni Rich, 1979)
-
Genyornis
- Genyornis ( Genyornis newtoni Stirling & Zietz, 1896)
-
Ilbandornis
- Ilbandornis lawsoni Rich, 1979
- Ilbandornis woodburnei Rich, 1979
literature
- Alan Feduccia : The Origin and Evolution of the Birds. 2nd ed., Yale University Press, New Haven / London 1999, ISBN 0-300-07861-7 .
- Peter F. Murray: Magnificent Mihirungs: The Colossal Flightless Birds of the Australian Dreamtime. Indiana University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-253-34282-1 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Peter F. Murray (2003): p. 169.
- ↑ Federico L. Agnolin: Brontornis burmeisteri Moreno & Mercerat, un Anseriformes (Aves) gigante del Mioceno Medio de Patagonia, Argentina. Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales Nueva Series 9, 2007, pp. 15-25.
- ↑ Trevor H. Worthy, Warren D. Handley, Michael Archer and Suzanne J. Hand. 2016. The Extinct Flightless Mihirungs (Aves, Dromornithidae): Cranial Anatomy, A New Species, and Assessment of Oligo-Miocene Lineage Diversity. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080 / 02724634.2015.1031345
Web links
- 'Thunder Birds' - The Family Dromornithidae in Australian Museum online
- Stephen Wroe: The Bird From Hell? Nature Australia, Volume 26, no 7:56 - 63 online