Gavia howardae

Gavia howardae is an extinct species of loon from the Piacenzian age from United States. Fossils of this bird were initially found in 1947 by Clifford Kennell in the San Diego Formation, California and were given a name in 1953 by Pierce Brodkorb. These first specimens consisted of humeri bones, which Brodkorb indicated based on the distal end of the humerus were a smaller species of the genus Gavia, with a possible relationship with the pacific loon. More specimens were collected from the same deposits covering the entirety of the wing, some more complete than others. Chandler (1990) described and published these new materials and found G. howardae to be related to the red-throated loon instead. Additional material has been recovered from the Yorktown Formation, North Carolina where in addition more wing bones, there were also remains of the leg and shoulder regions. Based on the overall size of the remains, G. howardae was on average smaller than the red-throated loon, and one of the smallest species of Neogene loons from North America.

No picture of Gavia howardae was found. Wikipedia, Wikidata and iDigBio were searched and had none. Smithsonian Open Access did not answer, so this is what the others held rather than everything there is. GBIF was asked, and what came back is not recorded: nothing, or a picture this site could not tie to Gavia howardae, or no answer at all. This entry cannot say which.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
GaviaPBDB
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 most 4 million years on record.

Every occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 5.333 Mya and 1.4 Mya, and nothing in the dating separates them, so that window is what the record shows rather than a span.

Miocene — about 0 of 8 occurrencesPliocene — about 6 of 8 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 2 of 8 occurrencesPleistocene5.3–5.2 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.2–5.0 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.0–4.8 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.8–4.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences4.7–4.5 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences4.5–4.4 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences4.4–4.2 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences4.2–4.0 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences4.0–3.9 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences3.9–3.7 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences3.7–3.5 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences3.5–3.4 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences3.4–3.2 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences3.2–3.0 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences3.0–2.9 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences2.9–2.7 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences2.7–2.5 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences2.5–2.4 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences2.4–2.2 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences2.2–2.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences2.1–1.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences1.9–1.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences1.7–1.6 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences1.6–1.4 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences5.83 Mya900 ka

8 occurrences of Gavia howardae on record, most of them in the Pliocene. 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

8 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

2 formations

San Diego — 32.74°N, 117.17°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°WSan Diego — 32.90°N, 117.10°WYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Gavia howardae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Gavia howardae and its relatives

Pliocene

Where Gavia howardae and its relatives were recorded in the Pliocene.

Found in the same rock

486 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 8 sites for Gavia howardae, 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

4 references

Each of the 8 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. 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 content0

No picture of Gavia howardae was found. Wikipedia, Wikidata and iDigBio were searched and had none.

Smithsonian Open Access did not answer, so this is what the others held rather than everything there is.

GBIF was asked, and what came back is not recorded: nothing, or a picture this site could not tie to Gavia howardae, or no answer at all. This entry cannot say which.

No 3D scan of Gavia howardae was found in Sketchfab.

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 itGavia through timeFormations of the PlioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Brodkorb 1953