#pseudodontornis

By Scott Reid on @drawingwithdinosaurs

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Name: Pseudodontornis 

Status: Extinct

First Described: 1930

Described By: Lambrecht

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, Neognathae, Pelagornithidae  

Referred Species: P. longidentata, P. longirostris, P. stirtoni, P. tenuirostris, P. tshulensis 

Despite its extreme number of species, our first in-order Pelagornithid - so Pseudotoothed bird - is not actually a very stable genus. It is known from incomplete fossil remains from a variety of locations that all may or may not actually belong to this genus. The original fossil, as well, comes from a fossil merchant, so that’s multiple layers of problematic for determining the affinities of this bird. In addition to all of this mess, most of the species assigned to this bird are probably just those of Pelagornis, the titular member of the Pseudo-toothed birds, so even though Pseudodontornis itself literally means “pseudo-toothed bird”, it is not the dinosaur you want to base your knowledge of the group on. 

By Jack Wood on @thewoodparable 

It had large “teeth” on the beak interspaced with smaller ones in between each, giving it a very jagged looking beak. It probably was a soaring bird, like others of its group, allowing it to fly over large regions of water to find food. In terms of size, it probably had a wingspan of more than 5 meters in length. Fossils from various species might come from Herne Bay, England; Zhylga, Kazakhstan, London Clay of England, Greta Siltstone Formation of New Zealand, and possible sites elsewhere that are more dubious. This genus is a mess, you guys. It probably lived between 58.7 and 48.6 million years ago, from the Thanetian of the Paleocene to the Ypresian of the Eocene, in the Paleogene. 

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