Pelagornis mauretanicus, Mourer-Chauvire & Geraads, 2008

Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile & Geraads, Denis, 2010, The Upper Pliocene Avifauna of Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco. Systematics and Biogeography, Records of the Australian Museum 62 (1), pp. 157-184 : 162-163

Pelagornis mauretanicus

Mourer-Chauviré & Geraads, 2008

The Odontopterygiformes , or pseudodontorns, were giant marine birds which presented bony tooth-shaped excrescences on the jaws. These pseudoteeth are unique among birds. They had a very large wingspan, up to 5.5 to 6 m, and their skeleton was highly modified. Pelagornis mauretanicus was approximately the same size as P. miocaenus , the type species of the genus, but differed morphologically. The material from Ahl al Oughlam allowed the description of several elements of the post-cranial skeleton. The pseudodontorns were distributed on the oceans all over the world from the Late Paleocene onwards. During the Pliocene, they were still present in North America, New Zealand, Japan, and Peru. The Ahl al Oughlam form, dated from 2.5 Ma, is the most recent, accurately dated form known to date (Mourer-Chauviré & Geraads, 2008).

Order Pelecaniformes