Lithornithidae is an extinct, possibly paraphyletic[1] (but see below) group of early paleognath birds. They are known from fossils dating to the Upper Paleocene through the Middle Eocene of North America and Europe, with possible Late Cretaceous representatives.[1][2] All are extinct today;[3] the youngest specimen is the currently unnamed SGPIMH MEV1 specimen from the mid-Eocene Messel Pit site.[4]
Lithornithids had long, slender, bills for probing. They closely resembled modern tinamous, aside from more developed wings. They possessed a rhynchokinetic skull with relatively unfused cranial bones, a weakly fused pygostyle and a splenial. The unguals were more curved than in tinamous and probably allowed better perching in trees.
The order Lithornithiformes was erected by Dr. Peter Houde in 1988. Initially, only three genera (Lithornis, Paracathartes, and Pseudocrypturus) and eight named species were included.[3]Promusophaga (Harrison & Walker, 1977) originally considered a stem-turaco, is considered synonymous with Lithornis vulturinus. Fissuravis may also belong to the clade,[5] and several unnamed remains are known.
^ abPaleogene Fossil Birds
^A lithornithid (Aves: Palaeognathae) from the Paleocene (Tiffanian) of southern California
^ abHoude, Peter W. (1988). "Paleognathous Birds from the Early Tertiary of the Northern Hemisphere". Publications of the Nuttall Ornithological Club. 22. Cambridge Massachusetts, USA: Nuttall Ornithological Club.
^"First substantial Middle Eocene record of the Lithornithidae (Aves): A postcranial skeleton from Messel (Germany)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
Lithornithidae is an extinct, possibly paraphyletic (but see below) group of early paleognath birds. They are known from fossils dating to the Upper Paleocene...
it was moved to Lithornis hookeri. L. hookeri is the smallest of the Lithornithidae. W. George collected the original fossil in the Division A London Clay...
reconsidered a distant relative of the ostrich and is now in the ratite family Lithornithidae. Filholornis from the Late Eocene or Early Oligocene of France is occasionally...
(1988) included it as a member of the order Lithornithiformes and family Lithornithidae. The holotype specimen is in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum...
Formation (early Eocene) lithornithids (Aves) and the relationships of Lithornithidae. (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, no. 406), 2016-06-30...
Mayr, Gerald (2008). "First substantial Middle Eocene record of the Lithornithidae (Aves): A postcranial skeleton from Messel (Germany)". Annales de Paléontologie...
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