PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Pelagornis

Reptilia - Odontopterygiformes - Pelagornithidae

Taxonomy

Pelagornis was named by Lartet (1857). It is not extant.

It was assigned to Sulidae by Zittel (1890); to Sulides by Lambrecht (1933); to Odontopterygiformes by Bourdon (2005); and to Pelagornithidae by Wetmore (1960), Harrison and Walker (1976), Carroll (1988), Cheneval (1993), Olson and Rasmussen (2001), Mlikovsky (2002), Chavez et al. (2007), Mourer-Chauvire and Geraads (2008), Mayr et al. (2008), Mayr and Rubilar-Rogers (2010), Ksepka (2014), Cenizo et al. (2015), Hastings and Dooley (2017) and Mayr (2022).

Species

P. chilensis, P. longirostris, P. mauretanicus, P. miocaenus, P. sandersi, P. stirtoni, Tympanonesiotes wetmorei

Synonyms

Neodontornis was named by Harrison and Walker (1976).

It was synonymized subjectively with Pelagornis by Mayr and Rubilar-Rogers (2010).

It was assigned to Pseudodontornithidae by Harrison and Walker (1976).
Tympanonesiotes was named by Hopson (1964).

It was synonymized subjectively with Pelagornis by Mayr et al. (2007).

It was assigned to Cyphornithidae by Hopson (1964) and Brodkorb (1967); and to Pelagornithidae by Carroll (1988).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1857	Pelagornis Lartet
1890	Pelagornis Zittel p. 842
1933	Pelagornis Lambrecht p. 281
1960	Pelagornis Wetmore p. 24
1964	Tympanonesiotes Hopson p. 8
1967	Tympanonesiotes Brodkorb p. 108
1976	Neodontornis Harrison and Walker p. 22
1976	Pelagornis Harrison and Walker p. 29
1988	Pelagornis Carroll
1988	Tympanonesiotes Carroll
1993	Pelagornis Cheneval p. 90
2001	Pelagornis Olson and Rasmussen p. 260
2002	Pelagornis Mlikovsky p. 83
2005	Pelagornis Bourdon p. 587
2007	Pelagornis Chavez et al. p. 179
2008	Pelagornis Mayr et al. p. 764
2008	Pelagornis Mourer-Chauvire and Geraads p. 174
2010	Pelagornis Mayr and Rubilar-Rogers p. 1314
2014	Pelagornis Ksepka
2015	Pelagornis Cenizo et al. p. 10 figs. Figure 7
2017	Pelagornis Hastings and Dooley p. 83
2022	Pelagornis Mayr p. 48 figs. Fig. 4.3

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	Osteichthyes	()
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
—	Sauropsida
class	Reptilia
subclass	Eureptilia	()
—	Romeriida
—	Diapsida	()

Rank	Name	Author
—	Archosauromorpha	(Huene 1946)
—	Crocopoda
—	Archosauriformes	Gauthier 1986
—	Eucrocopoda
—	Archosauria	()
informal	Avemetatarsalia
—	Ornithodira
—	Dinosauromorpha
—	Dinosauriformes
—	Dinosauria	()
—	Theropoda	()
—	Neotheropoda
—	Averostra	Paul 2002
—	Tetanurae
—	Coelurosauria	()
—	Maniraptora
—	Paraves
class	Aves
order	Odontopterygiformes	Howard 1957
family	Pelagornithidae	Fürbringer 1888
genus	Pelagornis	Lartet 1857

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. †Pelagornis Lartet 1857

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†Pelagornis chilensis Mayr and Rubilar-Rogers 2010

†Pelagornis longirostris Spulski 1910

†Pelagornis mauretanicus Mourer-Chauvire and Geraads 2008

†Pelagornis miocaenus Lartet 1857

†Pelagornis sandersi Ksepka 2014

†Pelagornis stirtoni Howard and Warter 1969

Invalid names: Neodontornis Harrison and Walker 1976 [synonym], Tympanonesiotes Hopson 1964 [synonym]

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

hydroxyapatiteo

Entire body:

yeso

Adult length:

10 to < 100o

Adult width:

1.0 to < 10o

Adult height:

1.0 to < 10o

Architecture:

compact or denseo

Ontogeny:

accretion, modification of partso

Grouping:

solitaryo

Environment:

marinef

Locomotion:

actively mobileo

Life habit:

ground dwellingo

Diet:

carnivoresubo

Reproduction:

oviparouso

Dispersal:

direct/internalo

Dispersal 2:

mobileo

Created:

2017-04-17 10:40:43

Modified:

2017-04-17 10:40:43

Source: f = family, subo = suborder, o = order

References: Marsh 1875, Benton 1983, Bush and Bambach 2015

Age range: base of the Bartonian to the top of the Late/Upper Pliocene or 41.30000 to 2.58800 Ma

Collections (28 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Bartonian	41.3 - 38.0	Western Sahara	P. sp. (175734)
Rupelian	33.9 - 28.1	USA (South Carolina)	P. sandersi (188100) P. sp. (182155)
Late/Upper Oligocene - Early/Lower Miocene	28.4 - 15.97	USA (Oregon)	P. sp. (150594 202095)
Chattian	28.1 - 23.03	USA (South Carolina)	P. sandersi (157876)
Early/Lower Miocene	23.03 - 15.97	USA (South Carolina)	Pseudodontornis longirostris (58453) Tympanonesiotes wetmorei (58452)
Burdigalian	20.44 - 15.97	France (Bordeaux)	P. miocaenus (48660)
Burdigalian	20.44 - 15.97	Venezuela (Lara)	P. sp. (175185)
Middle Miocene	15.97 - 11.608	France (Gers)	P. miocaenus (124693)
Serravallian	13.82 - 11.62	USA (Virginia)	P. sp. (57700)
Serravallian	13.82 - 11.62	Portugal	P. miocaenus (54171)
Serravallian	13.82 - 11.62	Venezuela (Falcon)	P. chilensis (175186)
Waiauan	13.05 - 11.04	New Zealand (North Canterbury)	P. miocaenus (124695)
Tortonian	11.62 - 7.246	Peru	P. sp. (45486)
Tortonian	11.62 - 7.246	Peru (Arequipa)	P. sp. (45485)
Tortonian - Messinian	11.62 - 5.333	Peru	P. sp. (46083)
Tortonian - Messinian	11.62 - 5.333	Chile (Atacama)	P. chilensis (99451)
Late/Upper Miocene	11.608 - 5.333	Chile	P. sp. (100171 100172)
Messinian	7.246 - 5.333	Peru	P. sp. (13079)
Messinian	7.246 - 5.333	Chile (Atacama)	P. chilensis (55535)
Messinian	7.246 - 5.333	Australia (Victoria)	P. sp. (46167)
Zanclean	5.333 - 3.6	USA (North Carolina)	P. speciesone, P. speciestwo (52582)
Late/Upper Pliocene	3.6 - 2.588	Morocco	P. mauretanicus (32052)
Piacenzian	3.6 - 2.588	USA (California)	P. sp. (66819)
Piacenzian	3.6 - 2.588	New Zealand	Pseudodontornis stirtoni (176341)