Gargantuavis
Encyclopedia
Gargantuavis was a genus
of prehistoric bird
, possibly related to Patagopteryx
, containing thus far a single species, Gargantuavis philoinos. It lived during the Late Cretaceous
in what is now southern France
, in the Marnes de la Maurine Formation dated to around 70 mya. A large bird, Gargantuavis was flightless, occupying an ecological niche
somewhat similar to that of modern ratite
s or certain non-avian dinosaur
s. It is possible that some of the fossil
eggs found in the region, usually attributed to non-avialan dinosaurs, actually belong to this bird.
Gargantuavis is known from three or possibly four bones: a synsacrum (the fused vertebrae above the hip), a partial illia (hip bone), and a partial femur (upper leg bone), which was referred to the species based on the fact that it seems to fit well with the hip. A second partial synsacrum similar to the type specimen had been described in 1995, and may also belong to Gargantuavis.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of prehistoric bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
, possibly related to Patagopteryx
Patagopteryx
Patagopteryx is an extinct monotypic genus of birds that lived during the Late Cretaceous, around 80 mya, in what is now the Sierra Barrosa in northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. About the size of a chicken, it is the earliest known unequivocal example of secondary flightlessness: its skeleton...
, containing thus far a single species, Gargantuavis philoinos. It lived during the Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...
in what is now southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, in the Marnes de la Maurine Formation dated to around 70 mya. A large bird, Gargantuavis was flightless, occupying an ecological niche
Ecological niche
In ecology, a niche is a term describing the relational position of a species or population in its ecosystem to each other; e.g. a dolphin could potentially be in another ecological niche from one that travels in a different pod if the members of these pods utilize significantly different food...
somewhat similar to that of modern ratite
Ratite
A ratite is any of a diverse group of large, flightless birds of Gondwanan origin, most of them now extinct. Unlike other flightless birds, the ratites have no keel on their sternum—hence the name from the Latin ratis...
s or certain non-avian dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s. It is possible that some of the fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
eggs found in the region, usually attributed to non-avialan dinosaurs, actually belong to this bird.
Gargantuavis is known from three or possibly four bones: a synsacrum (the fused vertebrae above the hip), a partial illia (hip bone), and a partial femur (upper leg bone), which was referred to the species based on the fact that it seems to fit well with the hip. A second partial synsacrum similar to the type specimen had been described in 1995, and may also belong to Gargantuavis.