By Jack Wood on @thewoodparable
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Name: Teviornis gobiensis
Described By: Kurochkin, Dyke & Karhu
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, Galloanserae, Anseriformes, Anatoidea, Presbyornithidae
Teviornis is another potential Mesozoic Neornithine, specifically a Presbyornithid - a group of duck and goose relatives that went extinct in the Miocene, that evolved to be very similar to modern filter feeding birds with long necks and legs. Teviornis itself lived about 70 million years ago, in the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous, in the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia. It is known from fairly incomplete and even damaged fossils, which is why the Neornithean status of Teviornis is often brought into question, though it certainly lived late enough for it to be possible. In addition, other potential Presbyornithids are also known from the Late Cretaceous, though it is debated, and Presbyornis itself is known from the earliest part of the Cenozoic after the extinction, which makes their being Presbyornithids prior to the extinction (such as Teviornis) fairly likely. Still, it is questioned whether or not Teviornis was a member of this group, and it can’t be confirmed based on the known fossils. If it was a Presbyornithid, it probably would have lived in large family groups, nesting colonially, feeding in a swampy environment.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teviornis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presbyornithidae
