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Birds that filled the niche left by
the demise of dinosaurs.
Available at http://planet.uwc.ac.za/nisl/Eco_people/Presentations/
Introduction

Some time in the Jurassic period, birds
evolved from theropod dinosaurs. Birds
and there relatives can be classified as
Archosauria.(www.wikipedia.com)

Neornithes are the taxon given to living
birds, which can be divided into
Palaeognathae and Neognathae.
Introduction

During the Mesozoic, the
Ichtyornithiformes and
Hesperornithiformes shared the lineages
of the neognathae.

Birds which fly have various adaptations
which allow them to fly, such as having a
sternum to which a keel with the flight
muscles are attached.
Introduction

However the Archaeopteryx do not poses
the sternal keel as well as the flightless
ratite birds.
Fossil records of Aves

Before we explore the birds that filled the
niche of dinosaurs, I explored the fossil
records of aves.

There are not many fossils of birds,
because the hollow bones of birds are not
likely to be kept preserved, there are
however a few well preserved bird fossils.
Fossil records of Aves

The oldest fossil found was of
Archaeopteryx discovered in Germany,and
in China a fossil was found about the
same time that Archaeopteryx was
discovered,called Confuciusornis, it
however had no teeth.
Fossil records of Aves

Birds from the Cretaceous era include
Hesperornithiformes,which were toothed
birds and were flightless swimmers.

While the Ishthyornithiformes were
carnivorous toothed flying birds.
Fossil records of Aves

During the Eocene time period the
Diatymidae were introduced and fossil
evidence was found in Europe and in
North America.

The Diatymidae had reduced wings and
they had a close resemblance to the living
ratite birds.
Archaeopteryx lithographica

A. lithographica, is about 150million years
old, and its fossil was discovered in
Southern Germany

A. lithographica is considered to be the
earliest bird known and formed the
transition between reptiles and birds.
Archaeopteryx lithographica

In contrast to living birds Archaeopteryx
had a “full set of teeth a flat sternum, a
long bony tail, gastralia and three claws on
the wing”(www.Wikipedia.com).

It did however posed characteristics of
modern birds such as the obvious been
feathers, wings, reduced fingers as well as
having a furcula.
Archaeopteryx lithographica

The use of the birds feathers are not totally
understood as it could have been used for
flight , insulation or both.
Classification of Gastornis
geiselensis
Kingdom
 Phylum
 Class
 Order
 Family
 Genus

Animalia
Chordata
Aves
Gruiformes
Gastornithidae
Gastornis (Herbert,1855)
Fossil of G. geiselensis
www.answers.com
Gastornis geiselensis

G. geiselensis was a prehistoric
bird,discovered by Gaston Plante, the bird
was a carnivorous scavenger and hunter,
that fed on small horses amongst other
animals. It was about 1.75m tall.

The closest living relatives to the Gastornis
are the moorhens which fall in the Rallidae
family.
Gastornis geiselensis

The fossil records of Gastornis are
common in Germany at the “Geiseltal site”
(www.Wikipedia.com), and in Northern
America.

At the height of 1.75m it was considered to
be one of the largest animals, with an
unusually large beak.
Gastornis geiselensis

The use of its large beak remains
debatable and could have been used, but
it could have been used for breaking nuts,
hard shells and crushing bones.

Due its unusual shape and size one would
expect it to be a vegetarian apposed to a
predator.
Gastornis geiselensis

They were flightless birds which occupied
the Paleocene and Eocene periods of the
Cenozoic, similar unrelated large birds
which were the Phorusrhacoids, had South
American origin as well as the Australian
Dromornithidae.
Fossils of some flightless birds

Other forms of pre historic
birds
Raphus cucullatus
 (www.oxforduniversitymuseum.com)

Classification
Kingdom:
 Phylum:
 Class:
 Order:
 Family:
 Genus:
 Species:

Animalia
Chordata
Aves
Columbiformes
Raphidae
Raphus
Raphus cucullatus
Fossils of Raphus cucullatus
The Dodo

The dodo went extinct in 1681,and
inhabited the Mauritius islands. It was also
a flightless bird and weighed
approximately 23kg (www.bagheera.com)

There is no complete fossil record of the
dodo, only a few bones and primitive
sketches.
The Dodo

The dodo went extinct due to humans
which colonized the islands of Mauritius.

The introduction of other carnivorous
animals such as feral cats and dogs and
monkeys etc, also led to the demise of the
dodo
The Dodo

The dodo was last sighted in 168, and
reached extinction by the end of the 17th
century.
(www.oxforduniversitymuseum.com)