Prophaethontidae

Prophaethontidae is an extinct family of Early Paleogene phaethontiforms that include the genera Lithoptila and Prophaethon, as well as possibly Phaethusavis and Zhylgaia. The anatomy of the prophaethontids were more similar to those of members of the order Procellariiformes than to Phaethontidae, features including nostrils that are long and slit-like, with longer wings and legs. This suggests that prophaethontids were better at swimming and being more pelagic and surface-feeding than tropicbirds are today. Such features were suggested to link the phaethontiforms with the procellariiforms, but molecular studies do not support this and instead support a relationship between phaethontiforms and the order Eurypygiformes.

No picture of Prophaethontidae 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 Prophaethontidae, or no answer at all. This entry cannot say which.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
PhaethontiformesPBDB
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 7.9 million years on record.

The record covers at least 56 Mya to 48.07 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 61.66 Mya to 41.03 Mya.

Paleocene — about 3 of 8 occurrencesPaleoceneEocene — about 5 of 8 occurrencesEocene62–61 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences61–61 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences61–60 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences60–59 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences59–59 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences59–58 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences58–57 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences57–56 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences56–56 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences56–55 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences55–54 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences54–54 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences54–53 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences53–52 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences52–51 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences51–51 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences51–50 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences50–49 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences49–48 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences48–48 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences48–47 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences47–46 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences46–46 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences46–45 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences45–44 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences44–43 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences43–43 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences43–42 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences42–41 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences41–41 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences56 Mya48.07 Mya62.2 Mya40.5 Mya

8 occurrences of Prophaethontidae on record, most of them in the Eocene. 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

5 formations

Couche II — 32.87°N, 6.57°WCouche II — 32.81°N, 6.83°WLondon Clay — 51.85°N, 1.28°ELondon Clay — 51.39°N, 0.84°EBrussles — 50.92°N, 4.56°EAquia — 38.89°N, 76.85°WTielt — 51.01°N, 3.23°E

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The named rock units Prophaethontidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 1 occurrence has no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Prophaethontidae and its relatives

Eocene

Where Prophaethontidae and its relatives were recorded in the Eocene.

Found in the same rock

197 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 8 sites for Prophaethontidae, 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

7 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 Prophaethontidae 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 Prophaethontidae, or no answer at all. This entry cannot say which.

No 3D scan of Prophaethontidae 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 itPhaethontiformes through timeFormations of the EoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Harrison and Walker 1976