Gigantornis

Gigantornis eaglesomei was a giant prehistoric bird, described from a fragmentary specimen from the Eocene of Nigeria. It was considered to be a representative of the albatross family (Diomedeidae), but was later referred to the bony-toothed birds, (Pelagornithidae). One of the largest pseudotooth birds, with an inferred wingspan of about 6 m (20 ft) it is among the largest birds ever.[1]

Gigantornis Temporal range: Middle Eocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	†Odontopterygiformes
Family:	†Pelagornithidae
Genus:	†Gigantornis Andrews, 1916
Species:	†G. eaglesomei
Binomial name
†Gigantornis eaglesomei Andrews, 1916

Its identified remains consist of a broken sternum found in Middle Eocene Ameki Formation deposits at Ameki (Nigeria). The fossil bird was considered to belong the albatross family (Diomedeidae), as no sterna of pseudotooth birds were known until its discovery, and it remained the only such specimen for decades. Only in the 1970s its true affinities were realized, after it had become clear that although it must have been from a dynamic soarer with wings like an albatross, it resembled pelicans (order Ciconiiformes[2]) rather than tubenoses (order Procellariiformes, to which albatrosses belong) in its details.[3]

It is not known whether this bird belongs to a distinct genus; it might even be the very same species as the similar-sized Dasornis emuinus, whose fossils are not uncommon in the Ypresian (Early Eocene) London Clay of the Isle of Sheppey (England). Remains of a large pseudotooth bird were also found in the Middle Eocene of Kpogamé-Hahotoé (Togo) and have been provisionally[4] termed "Aequornis traversei"; their analysis is likely to provide at least some insight on the taxonomic status of G. eaglesomei.[5]

The Gigantornis sternum is of the typical short and deep-crested shape found in dynamic soarers. Compared to LHNB (CCCP)-1, a Middle to Late Miocene pseudotooth bird sternum found in Portugal and tentatively assigned to Pelagornis, its articular facet for the furcula consists of a flat section at the very tip of the sternal keel and a similar one set immediately above it at an outward angle, and the spina externa is shaped like an Old French shield in cross-section. The slightly smaller LHNB (CCCP)-1 has a less sharply protruding sternal keel, the articular facet for the furcula consists of a large knob at the forward margin, and the spina externa is narrow in cross-section.[6]

Footnotes

1. Olson (1985: p.200), Bourdon (2005), Mayr (2009: p.59), Mayr et al. (2008)
2. Formerly Pelecaniformes; see there
3. Andrews (1916), Brodkorb (1963: p.241), Olson (1985: p.196), Mayr (2009: p.56,58)
4. Published in a thesis and hence a nomen nudum: ICZN (1999)
5. Bourdon (2006), Mayr (2009: p.56)
6. Mayr et al. (2008)

References

• Andrews, C.W. (1916): Note on the sternum of a large carinate bird from the Eocene of Southern Nigeria. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1916: 519–524.
• Bourdon, Estelle (2005): Osteological evidence for sister group relationship between pseudo-toothed birds (Aves: Odontopterygiformes) and waterfowls (Anseriformes). Naturwissenschaften 92(12): 586–591. doi:10.1007/s00114-005-0047-0 (HTML abstract) Electronic supplement (requires subscription)
• Bourdon, Estelle (2006): L'avifaune du Paléogène des phosphates du Maroc et du Togo: diversité, systématique et apports à la connaissance de la diversification des oiseaux modernes (Neornithes) ["Paleogene avifauna of phosphates of Morocco and Togo: diversity, systematics and contributions to the knowledge of the diversification of the Neornithes"]. Doctoral thesis, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle [in French]. HTML abstract
• Brodkorb, Pierce (1963): Catalogue of fossil birds. Part 1 (Archaeopterygiformes through Ardeiformes). Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences 7(4): 179–293. PDF or JPEG fulltext
• International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) (1999): International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (4th ed.). International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, London. ISBN 0-85301-006-4 HTML fulltext
• Mayr, Gerald (2009): Paleogene Fossil Birds. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg & New York. ISBN 3-540-89627-9
• Mayr, Gerald; Hazevoet, Cornelis J.; Dantas, Pedro; & Cachāo, Mário (2008): A sternum of a very large bony-toothed bird (Pelagornithidae) from the Miocene of Portugal. J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 28(3): 762–769. DOI:10.1671/0272-4634(2008)28[762:ASOAVL]2.0.CO;2 HTML abstract
• Olson, Storrs L. (1985): The Fossil Record of Birds. In: Farner, D.S.; King, J.R. & Parkes, Kenneth C. (eds.): Avian Biology 8: 79-252. PDF fulltext