Fred Ruhe
Well-known member
Eric Buffetaut and Delphine Angst, 2019
A femur of the Late Cretaceous giant bird Gargantuavis from Cruzy (southern France) and its systematic implications.
Palaeovertebrata 42(1)-e3
doi: 10.18563/pv.42.1.e3
Abstract and free pdf https://www.palaeovertebrata.com/Articles/view/374
A large avian femur recently discovered at the Late Cretaceous Montplo-Nord locality at Cruzy (Hérault, southern France) is referred to the giant bird Gargantuavis philoinos. The estimated mass of the bird is 57 kg, within the range of living cassowaries. The specimen provides new evidence about the anatomy of G. philoinos, notably showing that the distal end of the femur was similar to that of modern birds in having a condylus lateralis subdivided into two semicondyles. A new diagnosis of Gargantuavis philoinos is provided and the taxon is placed in a new family of basal ornithurines.
TAXONOMY:
Class Aves Linnaeus, 1758
Subclass Ornithurae Haeckel, 1866
Gargantuaviidae fam. nov.
Diagnosis: as for the single genus and species in the family.
Type genus: Gargantuavis Buffetaut & Le Loeuff, 1998
Gargantuavis philoinos Buffetaut & Le Loeuff, 1998
Enjoy,
Fred
A femur of the Late Cretaceous giant bird Gargantuavis from Cruzy (southern France) and its systematic implications.
Palaeovertebrata 42(1)-e3
doi: 10.18563/pv.42.1.e3
Abstract and free pdf https://www.palaeovertebrata.com/Articles/view/374
A large avian femur recently discovered at the Late Cretaceous Montplo-Nord locality at Cruzy (Hérault, southern France) is referred to the giant bird Gargantuavis philoinos. The estimated mass of the bird is 57 kg, within the range of living cassowaries. The specimen provides new evidence about the anatomy of G. philoinos, notably showing that the distal end of the femur was similar to that of modern birds in having a condylus lateralis subdivided into two semicondyles. A new diagnosis of Gargantuavis philoinos is provided and the taxon is placed in a new family of basal ornithurines.
TAXONOMY:
Class Aves Linnaeus, 1758
Subclass Ornithurae Haeckel, 1866
Gargantuaviidae fam. nov.
Diagnosis: as for the single genus and species in the family.
Type genus: Gargantuavis Buffetaut & Le Loeuff, 1998
Gargantuavis philoinos Buffetaut & Le Loeuff, 1998
Enjoy,
Fred
