#pelagornithids

[ostracartderms]

Some pelagornithid birds for an assignment recently

[thedrawinggizzard]

After a long voyage catching fish at sea, a Pelagornis returns to spend some quality time with her wife.

I am convinced that Pelagornis would have been incredibly gay in life, homosexual relationships seem to be VERY common in seabirds (albatrosses and penguins are the most famous ones, but it has also been documented in gulls, terns, auks and cormorants, aswell as just alot of birds in general).

[vogelpsittacines]

Pelagornis sandersi

extinct seabird that lived ~25 million years ago

Has the largest wingspan of any flying bird yet discovered, estimated ~6.06 - 7.38 m (19.9 - 24.2 ft)

They are one of the false–toothed birds (pseudodontorns/pelagornithids). Their most obvious unique trait is the bony, tooth-like projections on their upper and lower jaws, from which they earn their name. These bony spikes would have served a similar role to teeth and aided these gliding coastal birds in catching slippery prey swimming near the ocean surface (it was unable to land in or take off from water).

Almost like a dragon, no?

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Which palaeontological data gap or debate would you most like resolving?

what the fuck are pelagornithids and where the heck do they go

[thedrawinggizzard]

Pelagornis is known to be one of the largest birds to have ever flown, so i drew the three species in the genus that aren't that:P

[empidonax-blog]

“Bird watching in Chile would be thrilling if birds with more than five meter wingspans and huge pseudoteeth were still alive,” said Dr. Gerald Mayr of the Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg in Germany, lead author on the study.

Fossil of giant, bony-toothed bird from Chile sets new record for wingspan