Messelornis cristata
| Messelornis cristata | ||||||||||
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Skeleton after reburial on a synthetic resin plate |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||
| Eocene | ||||||||||
| 54 to 38 million years | ||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Messelornis cristata | ||||||||||
| Hesse , 1988 |
Messelornis cristata is a species of bird from the extinct family of Messelrallen (Messelornithidae) within the order of the crane birds (Gruiformes). Fossils come from the Messel pit near Darmstadt in Hesse. The species lived in the Eocene between 54 and 38 million years ago. M. cristata reached approximately the size of a pond claw . M. cristata had long legs and a short beak. The first describer Angelika Hesse assumes that the species was a rather unspecialized ground-dwelling bird with a relatively limited ability to fly.
The species addition refers to the fact that one of the specimens has a comb-shaped, fleshy appendage on its beak ( Latin cristata , 'comb', 'helmet bush'). According to paleornithologist Gerald Mayr , this appendage is non-fossil organic material under the beak. The height of this species seems to be gender dependent .
With regard to nutrition, the paleozoologist Michael Morlo interprets the way of life on the basis of a fossil with remains of the perch- like fish Rhenanoperca minuta in the area of the esophagus as an omnivore , and not, as originally assumed, as a pure fruit eater .
Fossils of Messelornis cristata make up about half of the bird fossils discovered so far in the Messel Pit. Many specimens provide clear stratigraphic information and can be assigned to a specific find horizon .
Systematic classification
The Messelrallen have only the name in common with Rallen (Rallidae). Angelika Hesse and Bradley C. Livezey suspect a relationship with the Eurypygiformes , but their traditional association with the crane birds (Gruiformes) is doubted. However, this assumption contradicts the fact that the Messelrallen lack several features of the Eurypygiformes, including the slit-shaped nostrils, the notarium (bone rod) of the thoracic spine and a deep U-shaped incision at the rear edge of the pelvis. Gerald Mayr therefore suggested a relationship to the heliornithidae (Heliornithidae) with which the Messel Coot the absence of the groove in the vasculare distal foramen in the barrel , the upper end of the humerus and the secondary structure of the Rabe leg in the shoulder belt and the bird foot have in common.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Angelika Hesse (1990): The description of the Messelornithidae (Aves: Gruiformes: Rhynocheti) from the Old Tertiary of Europe and North America . Senckenberg Natural Research Society. ISBN 9783924500672
- ↑ a b c d Gerald Mayr (2009): Paleogene Fossil Birds . Jumper. ISBN 9783540896272
- ↑ Michael Morlo (2004): Diet of Messelornis (Aves, Gruiformes), an Eocene bird from Germany . Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, 252: 29-33; Frankfurt a. M.
- ↑ Angelika Hesse (1988): The Messelornithidae - a new family of crane-like (Aves: Gruiformes: Rhynocheti) from the Tertiary of Europe and North America . In: Journal for Ornithology , 129 (1): 83-95; Berlin.
- ↑ Livezey, BC (1998). A phylogenetic analysis of the Gruiformes (Aves) based on morphological characters, with an emphasis on the rails (Rallidae). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (Ser. B) 353: 1-72.
literature
- Angelika Hesse (1988): The Messelornithidae - a new family of crane-like (Aves: Gruiformes: Rhynocheti) from the Tertiary of Europe and North America . In: Journal for Ornithology , 129 (1): 83-95; Berlin.
- Angelika Hesse (1990): The description of the Messelornithidae (Aves: Gruiformes: Rhynocheti) from the Old Tertiary of Europe and North America . Senckenberg Natural Research Society. ISBN 9783924500672
- Alan Feduccia : The Origin and Evolution of Birds. Yale University Press, 1999, ISBN 9780300078619 .
- Gerald Mayr (2009): Paleogene Fossil Birds . Jumper. ISBN 9783540896272
- Livezey, BC (1998). A phylogenetic analysis of the Gruiformes (Aves) based on morphological characters, with an emphasis on the rails (Rallidae). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (Ser. B) 353: 1-72.