#proapteryx

Round. Proapteryx.

As always, you can get all these cute stuff in my redbubble

Fossil Novembirb: Day 21

By Scott Reid on @drawingwithdinosaurs

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Name: Proapteryx micromeros

Status: Extinct

First Described: 2013

Described By: Worthy et al. 

Classification: Dinosauria, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Palaeognathae, Notopalaeognathae, Novaeratitae, Apterygiformes + Aepyornithihformes Clade, Apterygiformes, Apterygidae 

Proapteryx is a fossil Kiwi from the Bannockburn Formation of South Island, New Zealand. This is actually a very notable fossil formation, called the Saint Bathans Fauna, which shows a lot of different animals that were present in New Zealand at the time - including several bones and eggs indicating the presence of an early Moa (though it hasn’t been given a name), an early relative of modern Kakapo, pigeons, wrens, herons, frogs, a tuatara relative, geckos, skinks, turtles, a crocodile, and even a mammal (which, again, apart from bats, were rare prior to human introduction in the area). Proapteryx is the only named fossil Kiwi, demonstrating that the fossil history of Kiwis is rather poor. It lived from about 19 to 15 million years ago, in the Burdigalian age of the Miocene of the Neogene. It was smaller than modern kiwis, a little more than three times as small, and it had a shorter bill as well. It also had slender hind limbs, similar to those of active flying birds, indicating that it possibly was able to fly itself, unlike modern Kiwi. It thus represents an intermediate stage between the flighted ancestors of modern kiwis and modern kiwi. Kiwi and Moa each arrived to New Zealand independently, and aren’t actually closely related - and they both evolved flightlessness and larger body size on their own. In fact, the closest relatives of Kiwi are the Elephant Birds. 

Sources:

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

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

Flocking Together #9

Proapteryx

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