Re: Pelagornithidae question

[Tommy Tyrberg <tommy.tyrberg@norrkoping.mail.telia.com>]

The ratite hypothesis was due to Rothe:

Rothe, P. 1964. Fossile Strausseneier auf 
Lanzarote. Natur und Museum 94:175-187.
Sauer, E. G. F. & Rothe, P. 1972. Ratite 
Eggshells from Lanzarote, Canary Islands. Science 176(4030):43-45.
Rothe, P. 1974. Canary Islands: Origin and 
Evolution. Naturwissenschaften 61:526-533.

and the pelagornithid hypothesis was as far as I 
know originally suggested by Garcia-Talavera:

Garcia-Talavera, F. 1990. Aves gigantes en el 
Mioceno de Famara (Lanzarote). Revista de la 
Academia Canaria de la Ciencia 2:71-79.

who found several complete eggs. He pointed out 
that the shape was different from ratite eggs and 
suggested odontoperygiform affinities, probably 
mostly because of the large size of the eggs. It 
is certainly a reasonable hypothesis since 
pelagornithids have been found in deposits of 
similar age (Pliocene) in Morocco. The age of the 
eggs is often stated as Miocene, but is more 
likely early Pliocene. The Moroccan avifaunas 
also indicate that the pliocene seabird avifauna 
was a rich one with i. a. Pinguinus, suggesting 
that the uppwelling system in the area has a long history.

However the Eastern Canaries are very old (25 Ma) 
and was a single island for most of the time, so 
there was certainly plenty of  time and 
opportunity for giant flightless birds to evolve. 
No bones have been found as far as I know. 
Ratites seem unlikely however since the Eastern 
Canaries have apparently never been connected to 
the mainland and it seems unlikely that flighted 
paleognaths existed in Africa as late as the Miocene.

Tommy Tyrberg








At 20:41 2007-05-20, evelyn sobielski wrote:
> This is somewhat obscure, but maybe Tommy Tyrberg can
> help me...
>
> There have been supposed "ratite" eggshell fragments
> of ?Late Paleogene? age found on the E Canary Islands
> (DOI: 10.1126/science.176.4030.43). I came across some
> note on a Web page (Ameghiniana article I think it
> was) recently that claimed these remains are probably
> rather Pelagornithidae. Any refs?
>
>
> TIA,
>
> Eike
>
>
>       Heute schon einen Blick in die Zukunft 
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