Fossil of Giant Bony-Toothed Bird from Chile Sets Wingspan Record
ScienceDaily (Sep. 19, 2010) — A newly discovered skeleton of an ancient seabird from northern Chile provides evidence that giant birds were soaring the skies there 5-10 million years ago. The wing bones of the animal exceed those of all other birds in length; its wingspan would have been at least 5.2 m (17 ft.). This is the largest safely established wingspan for a bird. Other, larger estimates for fossil birds have been based on much less secure evidence.
Artist's perception of Pelagornis chilensis in life. (Credit: Artwork by Carlos Anzures)
The new bird belongs to a group known as pelagornithids, informally referred to as bony-toothed birds. They are characterized by their long, slender beaks that bear many spiny, tooth-like projections. Such 'teeth' likely would have been used to capture slippery prey in the open ocean, such as fish and squid.
“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
Fossils of bony-toothed birds are found on all continents, but such remains are usually fragmentary. This is because most birds have fragile bones that often do not survive the fossilization process. Only a single partial skeleton of a bony-toothed bird was known prior to discovery of the new Chilean specimen, and it is badly crushed. The new specimen, which is 70% complete and uncrushed, provides important new information about the size and anatomy of these strange birds. It is the largest bony-toothed bird discovered so far. It also represents a new species named after its country of origin: Pelagornis chilensis.
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Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, Volume 30, Issue 5 September 2010 , pages 1313 - 1330
Osteology of a new giant bony-toothed bird from the Miocene of Chile, with a revision of the taxonomy of Neogene Pelagornithidae
Authors: GERALD MAYR a; DAVID RUBILAR-Rogers b
| Affiliations: | a Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Sektion Ornithologie, Frankfurt am Main, Germany b Museo Nacional de Historia Natural,  rea Paleontolog a, Casilla, Santiago, Chile |
Abstract
Bony-toothed birds (Pelagornithidae) were among the largest volant birds, but their representatives from the upper size range have so far been known only from very fragmentary fossils. Here we report an exceptionally well-preserved giant species from the late Miocene of the Baha Inglesa Formation in northern Chile, in which most major limb bones are complete and uncrushed. The fossil has the longest wing skeleton of any bird, and its wingspan in life was at least 5.2 m. Mass estimates of 16-29 kg are, however, surprisingly low and within the range of large extant volant birds, or only moderately above. The fossil constitutes the most substantial record of the Pelagornithidae (bony-toothed birds), and is assigned to a new species, Pelagornis chilensis. It is one of the largest known pelagornithids and the three-dimensionally preserved bones allow recognition of many previously unknown osteological features, especially concerning the vertebrae, pectoral girdle, and limb elements. We revise the taxonomy of Neogene pelagornithids and propose classification of all Miocene and Pliocene species into a single genus, Pelagornis. Osteological features are highlighted in which giant Neogene Pelagornithidae differ from their smaller Palaeogene relatives.
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