Teviornis

Taxobox
name = "Teviornis"
fossil_range = Late Cretaceous
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
subclassis = Neornithes
infraclassis = Galloanserae?
ordo = Anseriformes?
superfamilia = Presbyornithidae?
genus = "Teviornis"
genus_authority =
species = "T. gobiensis"
binomial = "Teviornis gobiensis"
binomial_authority =

"Teviornis" is a recently described genus of prehistoric bird. It lived in the Maastrichtian, during the Late Cretaceous, some 68 million years ago. It appears to belong to the Anseriformes, which includes ducks and geese, but it is not considered to be a direct ancestor of them. Its fossil remains were found in the Nemegt Formation of southern Mongolia. Only the type species "Teviornis gobiensis" is known to date.

Despite the rather fragmentary remains, the genus seems to be quite unequivocally a member of the Presbyornithidae, as supported by both cladistic and qualitative analyses. These were stilt-legged waterfowl which are nowadays entirely extinct but flourished during the Paleogene. Together with the famous "Vegavis" from Antarctica, nearly half the world away, "Teviornis" demonstrates that the relatives of today's waterfowl already were widespread and highly apomorphic by the end of the Mesozoic.

External links

* palaeos.com: [http://www.palaeos.com/Vertebrates/Units/360Galloanserae/360.650.html#Teviornis 360.650 Galloanserae: Anseres: Anatoidea: "Teviornis"] . Drawings of type carpometacarpus and humerus. Version of 2004-JUL-13. Retrieved 2007-NOV-08.