#dromornithid

a Dromornis drake standing guard while his hen rests and eats peacefully :)

Some watercolour studies of dromornithids, also known as (the much cooler name) Mihirungs. The animals depicted are Dromornis and Genyornis, amd they lived in Australia. Despite their somewhat threatening appearance, they were peaceful browsing herbivores related to ducks and geese, and may have travelled the outback in a rather ponderous manner.

Dromornis (the brown one with a big beak) lived in Australia during the Miocene and the Pliocene, and is probably the most popular mihirung. It was initially thought to be a carnivore, but it's beak was better suited for shearing branches and processing leaves, nuts and fruit. It was still, however, a formidable animal. At 3 meters tall and 700 kilograms, it wad the biggest animal in its environment, and the second largest bird ever.

By Scott Reid on @drawingwithdinosaurs

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Name: Bullockornis planei

Status: Extinct

First Described: 1979

Described By: P. Rich

Classification: Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Galloanserae, Anseriformes, Gastornithiformes, Dromornithidae

Bullockornis, or the Demon-Duck of Doom, is or next Dromornithid from the Camfield Beds Formation and potentially Riversleigh of Australia, is another large flightless bird closely related to modern ducks and chickens. It lived primarily in the Miocene, from about 16 to 11.6 million years ago, from the Langhian to the Serravallian ages of the Miocene of the Neogene. It might have lived earlier than that, though these remains from Riversleigh are under some debate. It was about 2.5 meters tall and weighed up to 250 kilograms, and it had a large beak for shearing plant material in its forested environments. In fact, it had a skull bigger than that of small horses. 

Source:

http://fossilworks.org/?a=taxonInfo&taxon_no=159179 

By José Carlos Cortés on @quetzalcuetzpalin-art​

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Name: Barawertornis tedfordi

Status: Extinct

First Described: 1979

Described By: P. Rich

Classification: Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Galloanserae, Anseriformes, Gastornithiformes, Dromornithidae

Barawertornis is a Dromornithid from Riversleigh, Australia, living between about 28 and 23 million years ago, from the Chattian to the Aquitanian of the Oligocene to the Miocene, straddling the Paleogene-Neogene boundary. It is, sadly, only known from fragmentary remains, though there are some new fossils that have given us a bit of a picture of its nature. It was probably faster than Dromornis and an herbivore living in a heavily forested habitat, and probably weighed between 80 to 95 kilograms. 

Source:

By José Carlos Cortés on @quetzalcuetzpalin-art​

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Name: Ilbandornis lawsoni, I. woodburnei

Status: Extinct

First Described: 1979

Described By: P. Rich

Classification: Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Galloanserae, Anseriformes, Gastornithiformes, Dromornithidae

Ilbandornis is our next Dromornithid - and the most slender one, with thin legs but the weird body that is found in other Dromornithids. In fact, despite the skinnier legs, they probably were bigger in general than other Dromornithids. In general, they were kind of like the Dromornithid take on Ostriches - and were probably faster runners as a result. They lived in forested environments, however, like other Dromornithids - specifically the Waite Formation of Australia, living between 11.6 and 5.3 million years ago, from the Tortonian to the Messinian of the Miocene of the Neogene. It, like other Dromornithids, ate mostly plant matter, chopping it up with its huge beak. 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilbandornis 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dromornithidae 

By Jack Wood on @thewoodparable

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Name: Genyornis newtoni

Status: Extinct

First Described: 1896

Described By: Stirling & A. H. C. Zietz

Classification: Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Neognathae, Galloanserae, Anseriformes, Gastornithiformes, Dromornithidae

Genyornis is our last Dromornithid (put off because of Jack’s exams) known from the Lancefield Bone Bed and Cuddle Springs of Australia, living about 0.126 and 0.0 million years ago, from the Tarantian of the Pleistocene to the Holocene. It was a more heavily built Dromornithid, at about 2 to 2.5 meters in height. It is known from the best material of any Dromornithid, which is really saying something as we don’t know very much about it. Still, it was probably an herbivore like other members of the group. It was also the last known Dromornithid, persisting up until about 31,000 years ago. Aborigines in Australia decidedly coexisted with this bird, though of course, we don’t know much of how they interacted with each other (though it’s possible Genyornis was hunted into extinction). Eggshells found that are attributed to Genyornis also show signs of burning - so rather than being hunted to extinction, their eggs were stolen and cooked into extinction instead. 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genyornis