Gavia

Loons or divers are a group of aquatic birds found in much of North America and northern Eurasia. All living species of loons are members of the genus Gavia, family Gaviidae, and order Gaviiformes.

Gavia

All authors above. Collage made by Michal Klajban · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
GaviidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Coelurosauria
Life habit
ground dwelling, solitaryPBDB, for Theropoda
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Theropoda
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Theropoda

Time the record covers

At least 31 million years on record.

The record covers at least 31.8 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 33.9 Mya to 0 Mya.

Eocene — about 0 of 123 occurrencesOligocene — about 1 of 123 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 12 of 123 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 14 of 123 occurrencesPleistocene — about 40 of 123 occurrences35–33 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences33–32 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences32–31 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences12–10 Mya — about 2 occurrences10–9.2 Mya — about 2 occurrences9.2–8.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences8.1–6.9 Mya — about 1 occurrence6.9–5.8 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences5.8–4.6 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.6–3.5 Mya — about 5 occurrences3.5–2.3 Mya — about 8 occurrences2.3–1.2 Mya — about 7 occurrences1.2–0 Mya — about 88 occurrences31.8 Mya11.7 ka34.6 Mya0 Mya

123 occurrences of Gavia on record. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

123 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

15 formations

San Diego — 32.74°N, 117.17°WSan Diego — 32.90°N, 117.10°WSan Diego — 32.74°N, 117.05°WSan Diego — 32.73°N, 117.14°WSan Diego — 32.63°N, 117.02°WSan Diego — 32.76°N, 117.14°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.60°N, 117.80°WPalos Verdes Sand — 34.00°N, 118.20°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.99°N, 118.45°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.66°N, 117.90°WPeace River — 27.74°N, 81.93°WCalvert — 39.20°N, 75.60°WCalvert — 38.62°N, 76.51°WCalvert — 37.93°N, 77.51°WLiuchungchi — 23.44°N, 120.59°EYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WSan Mateo — 33.20°N, 117.37°WSan Pedro — 33.75°N, 118.28°WPismo — 35.17°N, 120.73°WPungo River — 35.40°N, 76.80°WMonterey — 33.56°N, 117.71°WEtchegoin — 36.20°N, 121.08°WBermont — 27.70°N, 82.50°WManix — 34.80°N, 117.00°WIchijiku — 35.27°N, 140.00°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Gavia has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 80 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

2,122 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 92 sites for Gavia, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

54 references

Each of the 123 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 42 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Gavia

Credit
All authors above. Collage made by Michal Klajban
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itGaviidae through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Forster 1788