Zhylgaia is a genus of fossil bird. Its remains, consisting of two partial humeri, were recovered from an upper Paleocene deposit in Kazakhstan.[1]
The relationships of this genus are unknown; it was initially placed in the Presbyornithidae, which at that time were believed to be some sort of "transitional shorebird". Upon recognition that the presbyornithids were more likely a prehistoric lineage of fairly advanced waterfowl, Zhylgaia was assigned to the form taxon "Graculavidae", an assemblage of Late Cretaceous and Paleocene shorebirds which are not a natural clade but merely an assemblage of superficially similar birds. All that can be said about this taxon is that it was a modern bird, most likely a neognath.[citation needed]
In 2008, Zhylgaia was assigned to Prophaethontidae—an extinct family related to modern tropicbirds—on the basis of its anatomy and size closely matching the prophaethontid Lithoptila.[1]
^ abBourdon, Estelle; Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile; Amaghzaz, Mbarek; Bouya, Baâdi (2008-09-12). "New specimens of Lithoptila abdounensis (Aves, Prophaethontidae) from the lower Paleogene of Morocco". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 28 (3): 751–761. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2008)28[751:NSOLAA]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0272-4634.
Zhylgaia is a genus of fossil bird. Its remains, consisting of two partial humeri, were recovered from an upper Paleocene deposit in Kazakhstan. The relationships...
genera Lithoptila and Prophaethon, as well as possibly Phaethusavis and Zhylgaia. The anatomy of the prophaethontids were more similar to those of members...
group. Its wing structure closely resembles that of the fossil tropicbird Zhylgaia; however, Novacaesareala is estimated to have been larger than any other...
Cretaceous China Zhouornis Zhang et al. 2013 Valid Early Cretaceous China Zhylgaia Nessov 1988 Valid Late Cretaceous Kazakhstan Dating is uncertain; may be...
Bartonian Uzbekistan A Graculavidae genus The type species is Z. kurochkini. Zhylgaia Valid Gen et sp nov. Nessov Late Paleocene Kazakhstan A Prophaethontidae...
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