View source for Biology:Odontopteryx

{{short description|Extinct genus of birds}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Taxobox
| name = ''Odontopteryx''
| fossil_range = Late [[Earth:Paleocene|Paleocene]] - Late [[Earth:Eocene|Eocene]], {{fossilrange|56.8|40.4}}
| image =Odontopteryx (36844128874).jpg 
| image_caption = Skull and hind part of jaws
| regnum = Animalia
| phylum = [[Biology:Chordata|Chordata]]
| classis = [[Biology:Aves|Aves]]
| ordo = †[[Biology:Odontopterygiformes|Odontopterygiformes]]<!-- monotypic, don't link -->
| familia = †[[Biology:Pelagornithidae|Pelagornithidae]] <small>(but see text)</small>
| genus = †'''''Odontopteryx'''''
| genus_authority = Owen, 1873
| subdivision_ranks = [[Biology:Species|Species]]
| subdivision = 
''O. toliapica'' <small>Owen, 1873</small><br />
and see text
| synonyms =
<ref>Brodkorb (1963: p.262), Mayr (2008)</ref><br />
Genus-level:<br/>
"Odontornis" <small>Owen, 1873 (''[[Biology:Nomen nudum|nomen nudum]]'')</small>
----
Species-level:<br/>
''Neptuniavis minor'' <small>Harrison & C.A.Walker, 1977</small>
}}
'''''Odontopteryx''''' is a [[Biology:Genus|genus]] of the extinct pseudotooth birds or pelagornithids. These were probably rather close relatives of either [[Biology:Pelican|pelican]]s and [[Biology:Stork|stork]]s, or of [[Biology:Waterfowl|waterfowl]], and are here placed in the [[Biology:Order|order]] Odontopterygiformes to account for this uncertainty.<ref name="Bourdon 2005, Mayr 2009: p.59">Bourdon (2005), Mayr (2009: p.59)</ref>

==Species and taxonomy==
[[File:Odontopteryx_topliaca1.JPG|left|thumb|skull and partial beak of ''Odontopteryx toliapica'']]
One [[Biology:Species|species]] of ''Odontopteryx'' has been formally described, but several other named taxa of pseudotooth birds might belong here too. The [[Biology:Type species|type species]] '''''Odontopteryx toliapica''''' is known from the [[Earth:Ypresian|Ypresian]] (Early Eocene) [[Earth:London Clay|London Clay]] of the Isle of Sheppey ({{wipe|England}}) and slightly older rocks of the Ouled Abdoun Basin (Morocco). Its [[Biology:Tarsometatarsus|tarsometatarsus]] (e.g.{{Verify source|date=September 2009}}<!-- only one known? --> specimen BMNH A4962) was for some time in the late 20th century believed to be from a giant procellariiform and called ''Neptuniavis minor'', but specimen BMNH A44096 &ndash; the [[Biology:Holotype|holotype]] skull described by Richard Owen in 1873 &ndash; was the first pelagornithid recognized as such, and not assigned to some other seabird lineage. It was still often allied with [[Biology:Sulidae|Sulidae]] (boobies and gannets) or [[Biology:Diomedeidae|Diomedeidae]] (albatrosses), to which it is quite certainly not closely related.<ref>Woodward (1909: pp.86-87), Walsh & Hume (2001), Mlíkovský (2002: pp.81-82), paleocene-mammals.de (2008), Mayr (2008, 2009: pp.56,59)</ref>

One to five (or perhaps more) additional unnamed species are tentatively assigned to the present genus, mainly due to their size and/or forward-angled "teeth": one smaller and one larger than ''O. toliapica'' and also from the Late Paleocene or Early Eocene of the Ouled Abdoun Basin in Morocco, one from the mid-[[Earth:Eocene|Eocene]] of Uzbekistan, one from Middle Eocene strata of the Tepetate Formation from near El Cien (Baja California Sur, Mexico), and one from the Early Eocene of Virginia, USA. As regards the Moroccan fossils, however, the largest of the three ''Odontopteryx''-like forms (initially called "''Odontopteryx'' n. sp. 2") has provisionally been termed '''"Odontopteryx gigas"''' but may in fact be a ''[[Biology:Dasornis|Dasornis]]'', while the smallest ("''Odontopteryx'' n. sp. 1") has been considered a distinct genus (as "Odontoptila inexpectata") but that name is both a ''[[Biology:Nomen nudum|nomen nudum]]''<ref>Like "O. gigas" it was only published in a [[Thesis|thesis]]: ICZN (1999)</ref> and would in any case be a junior homonym of the [[Biology:Geometer moth|geometer moth]] genus ''[[Biology:Odontoptila|Odontoptila]]'' and thus unavailable for the bird. Though the Mexican specimen (MHN-UABCS Te5/6–517, a [[Biology:Anatomical terms of location#Proximal and distal|distal]] [[Biology:Humerus|humerus]] piece) agrees with ''O. toliapica'' in size and shape, it is not entirely clear whether the [[Earth:Americas|American]] forms belong in this otherwise [[Earth:Eurasia|Eurasia]]n genus. It must be remembered, however, that at that their time the Isthmus of Panama had not been formed yet.<ref>González-Barba ''et al.'' (2002), Mlíkovský (2002: p.81), uBio (2005), Bourdon (2005, 2006), NEO (2008), paleocene-mammals.de (2008), Mayr (2008, 2009: pp.56-57)</ref>

''[[Biology:Pseudodontornis|Pseudodontornis tschulensis]]''{{Verify source|date=August 2009}}<!-- "tshulensis"? --> from the Late Paleocene of Zhylga (Kazakhstan) is sometimes placed in ''Odontopteryx'', as is ''Macrodontopteryx oweni'' which was also found in the London Clay. In the latter case however, this does not seem to be correct (see below). The species originally described as ''O. longirostris'' was made the type species of ''[[Biology:Pseudodontornis|Pseudodontornis]]'' in 1930. Small pelagornithid specimens have also been reported from the Early Oligocene [[Earth:Kishima Group|Kishima Group]] and the Late Oligocene Ashiya Group of {{wipe|Japan}}, but their placement in ''Odontopteryx'' is even more uncertain.<ref>González-Barba ''et al.'' (2002), Mlíkovský (2002: pp.81-82), paleocene-mammals.de (2008), Mayr (2008, 2009: pp.56,58)</ref>

''"Neptuniavis" minor'' was described from remains assigned to ''O. toliapica'' by Richard Lydekker in 1891. However, the supposed procellariiform genus ''Neptunavis'' is actually a pseudotooth bird too, and hence the smaller "species" is here synonymized as proposed by Lydekker. The [[Biology:Type species|type species]] ''"N." miranda'', on the other hand, is a junior synonym of the large ''Dasornis emuinus''. In a peculiar twist, some material assigned to ''"N." minor'' eventually turned out to be remains of the paleognath ''Lithornis vulturinus''; the very first described bone of ''Dasornis emuinus'' on the other hand &ndash; a [[Biology:Humerus|humerus]] piece &ndash; was at first mistaken for to be a ''[[Biology:Lithornis|Lithornis]]'' tarsometatarsus.<ref>Mlíkovský (2002: pp.58-59,78), Mayr (2008)</ref>

==Description and systematics==
[[File:Odontopteryx.jpg|thumb|left|Restoration]] 
''O. toliapica'' is among the smallest pseudotooth birds known to date &ndash; but this still means that to would have rivalled, if not exceeded, most living [[Biology:Albatross|albatross]]es in [[Wingspan|wingspan]] and the [[Biology:Brown pelican|brown pelican]] (''Pelecanus occidentalis'') in bulk. In life, its head (including the beak) would have been 20–25&nbsp;cm (8–10&nbsp;in) long. Unlike in most other pseudotooth birds, its "teeth" are slanted forwards.<ref>Hopson (1964), González-Barba ''et al.'' (2002), Mayr (2008, 2009: pp.57,59)</ref>

Like those of its relatives, the thin-walled bones of ''Odontopteryx'' broke easily and thus very few [[Biology:Fossil|fossil]]s &ndash; though still far more than of the average pseudotooth bird genus &ndash; are decently preserved. In combination with its small (for pseudotooth birds) size, some traits allow to identify the present genus. It resembles ''[[Biology:Dasornis|Dasornis]]'' in having a jugal arch that is mid-sized, tapering and stout behind the [[Physics:Orbit|orbit]]al process of the prefrontal bone, unlike in the large [[Earth:Neogene|Neogene]] ''[[Biology:Osteodontornis|Osteodontornis]]''. Also, its paroccipital process is much elongated back- and downwards, again like in ''Dasornis'' but unlike in ''Pseudodontornis longirostris''. Meanwhile, the [[Biology:Anatomical terms of location#Proximal and distal|distal]] [[Biology:Humerus|humerus]] specimen from Mexico (MHN-UABCS Te5/6–517) which may or may not belongs in the present genus differs from the corresponding bone of ''Osteodontornis'' in a more narrow and less excavated surface between the external [[Biology:Condyle (anatomy)|condyle]] and the ectepicondylar prominence, with the pit between these closer to the bone's end. Its [[Biology:Quadrate bone|quadrate bone]], meanwhile, differed from that of ''Osteodontornis'' in a very broadly grooved dorsal head, a wide main shaft with a strongly curved [[Biology:Anatomical terms of location#Directional terms|lateral]] ridge and a small and somewhat forward-pointing [[Biology:Orbit (anatomy)|orbit]]al process. The forward center of the quadrate's ventral articulation ridge extends downwards and to the middle, and the pterygoid process is only slightly expanded to the upper center in ''Odontopteryx''. The socket for the quadratojugal is displaced downwards. The quadrate of ''P. longirostris'' is not very well preserved; it agees with ''Odontopteryx'' in a broad main shaft but is closer to ''Osteodontornis'' in the straight main shaft ridge and its upward-directed ventral articulation ridge's forward center. Its quadratojugal socket differs from both.<ref>Ono (1989), González-Barba ''et al.'' (2002), Mayr (2008)</ref>
[[File:Odontopteryx_toliapica.jpg|thumb|Skull of ''O. toliapica'' with white areas are restored.]] 
''Odontopteryx'' differed from ''[[Biology:Pelagornis|Pelagornis]]'' (a contemporary of ''Osteodontornis'') and agreed with ''Dasornis''<ref>= "''Argillornis emuinus''": Boudon (2005), Mayr (2008)</ref> in having a deep and long handward-pointing pneumatic foramen in the fossa pneumotricipitalis of the [[Biology:Humerus|humerus]], a latissimus dorsi muscle attachment site on the humerus that consists of two distinct segments instead of a single long, and a large knob that extends along the [[Biology:Ulna|ulna]] where the ligamentum collaterale ventrale attached. Further differences between ''Odontopteryx'' and ''Pelagornis'' are found in the [[Biology:Tarsometatarsus|tarsometatarsus]]: in the present genus, it lacks a deep fossa of the hallux' first metatarsal bone and its middle toe [[Biology:Tarsometatarsus|trochlea]] is conspicuously expanded forward. The salt glands inside the eye sockets were far less developed in ''Odontopteryx'' than in ''Pelagornis''. As the traits shared between ''Odontopteryx'' and ''Dasornis'' are probably plesiomorphic however, they cannot be used to argue for a closer relationship between the two [[Earth:Paleogene|Paleogene]] genera than either had with ''Osteodontornis'' and/or ''Pelagornis''.<ref name="Bourdon 2005, Mayr 2009: p.59"/>

But even though &ndash; due to the lack of better-preserved fossils &ndash; a close relationship between ''Odontopteryx'' and ''Dasornis'' cannot be excluded for sure either, it seems that the Neogene pseudotooth birds all derive from a large Paleogene form &ndash; such as ''Dasornis'' or (if it is not actually identical with ''Pelagornis'') the mysterious ''P. longirostris'' &ndash; and that the smallish lineage became entirely extinct before the Neogene (perhaps in the ''Grande Coupure''). In 1891 ''O. toliapica'' was proposed as [[Biology:Type genus|type genus]] of a family '''Odontopterygidae'''; recent authors generally place all pseudotooth birds in a single family. But if the [[Biology:Evolution|evolution]]ary scenario outlined above is correct, the family name Pelagornithidae could be restricted to the giant lineage, and the Odontopterygidae reestablished as name for the smaller lineage. ''Macrodontopteryx'' was initially also included in the Odontopterygidae, but if not a distinct genus it is more likely a young individual of ''Dasornis''. The only smallish Neogene pseudotooth bird known as of 2009 is ''"Pseudodontornis" stirtoni'' from [[Earth:New Zealand|New Zealand]], which was about the size of ''O. toliapica''. Its relationships are completely obscure.<ref>Lanham (1947), Scarlett (1972), Brodkorb (1963: p.262), Olson (1985: p.195), González-Barba ''et al.'' (2002), Mlíkovský (2002: p.81), Mayr (2008, 2009: p.59)</ref>

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{aut|Bourdon, Estelle}} (2005): Osteological evidence for sister group relationship between pseudo-toothed birds (Aves: Odontopterygiformes) and waterfowls (Anseriformes). ''Naturwissenschaften'' '''92'''(12): 586–591. <small>{{doi|10.1007/s00114-005-0047-0}}</small> (HTML abstract) [https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs00114-005-0047-0 Electronic supplement] (requires subscription)
* {{aut|Bourdon, Estelle}} (2006): L'avifaune du Paléogène des phosphates du Maroc et du Togo: diversité, systématique et apports à la connaissance de la diversification des oiseaux modernes (Neornithes) ["Paleogene avifauna of phosphates of Morocco and Togo: diversity, systematics and contributions to the knowledge of the diversification of the Neornithes"]. Doctoral thesis, Muséum national d'histoire naturelle [in French]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721012025/http://bcmnts1.mnhn.fr/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=12C9G373T0897.297548&profile=mq&source=~!muscat&view=&uri=full=3100001~!405665~!2 HTML abstract]
* {{aut|Brodkorb, Pierce}} (1963): Catalogue of fossil birds. Part 1 (Archaeopterygiformes through Ardeiformes). ''Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences'' '''7'''(4): 179–293. [http://fulltext10.fcla.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=feol&idno=UF00001514&format=pdf PDF or JPEG fulltext]
* {{aut|González-Barba, Gerardo; Schwennicke, Tobias; Goedert, James L. & Barnes, Lawrence G.}} (2002): Earliest Pacific Basin record of the Pelagornithidae (Aves, Pelecaniformes). ''J. Vertebr. Paleontol.'' '''22'''(2): 722–725. <small>DOI:10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022[0722:EPBROT]2.0.CO;2</small> [http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022%5B0722%3AEPBROT%5D2.0.CO%3B2 HTML abstract]
* {{aut|Hopson, James A.}} (1964): ''Pseudodontornis'' and other large marine birds from the Miocene of South Carolina. ''Postilla'' '''83''': 1–19. [https://archive.org/details/postilla831964peab Fulltext] at the [[Internet Archive]]
* {{aut|[[Organization:International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature|International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature]] (ICZN)}} (1999): ''International Code of Zoological Nomenclature'' (4th ed.). International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, London. <small>{{ISBN|0-85301-006-4}}</small> [https://web.archive.org/web/20090524144249/http://www.iczn.org/iczn/index.jsp HTML fulltext]
* {{aut|Lanham, Urless N.}} (1947): Notes on the phylogeny of the Pelecaniformes. ''Auk'' '''64'''(1): 65–70. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120805170809/http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Auk/v064n01/DJVU/P0065-P0070.djvu DjVu fulltext] [https://web.archive.org/web/20120805170815/http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Auk/v064n01/p0065-p0070.pdf PDF fulltext]
* {{aut|Mayr, Gerald}} (2008): A skull of the giant bony-toothed bird Dasornis (Aves: Pelagornithidae) from the Lower Eocene of the Isle of Sheppey. ''Palaeontology'' '''51'''(5): 1107–1116. <small>{{doi|10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00798.x}}</small> (HTML abstract)
* {{aut|Mayr, Gerald}} (2009): ''Paleogene Fossil Birds''. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg & New York. <small>{{ISBN|3-540-89627-9}}</small> [https://books.google.com/books?id=P_TB72RBLLMC Preview] at [[Google Books]]
* {{aut|Mlíkovský, Jirí}} (2002): ''Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe''. Ninox Press, Prague. <small>{{Listed Invalid ISBN|80-901105-3-8}}</small> [https://web.archive.org/web/20070611074327/http://www.nm.cz/download/JML-18-2002-CBE.pdf PDF fulltext]<!-- This should be treated with extreme caution as regards merging of species. Splits are usually good though. See also critical review in Auk121:623-627 here http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3793/is_200404/ai_n9396879 -->
* {{aut|[[Astronomy:NASA Earth Observatory|NASA Earth Observatory]] (NEO)}} (2008): [http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=4073 Panama: Isthmus that Changed the World]. Version of 2008-SEP-22. Retrieved 2009-SEP-24.
* {{aut|Olson, Storrs L.}} (1985): The Fossil Record of Birds. ''In:'' {{aut|Farner, D.S.; King, J.R. & Parkes, Kenneth C. (eds.)}}: ''Avian Biology'' '''8''': 79-252. [http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/bitstream/10088/6553/1/VZ_167_Fossil_Record_of_Birds.pdf PDF fulltext] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718103948/http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/bitstream/10088/6553/1/VZ_167_Fossil_Record_of_Birds.pdf |date=2011-07-18 }}
* {{aut|paleocene-mammals.de}} (2008): [http://www.paleocene-mammals.de/pal_birds.htm Genera and species of Paleocene birds]. Version of 2008-FEB-10. Retrieved 2009-AUG-04.
* {{aut|uBio}} (2005): ''Digital Nomenclator Zoologicus'', version 0.86 '''3''': 387. [http://www.ubio.org/NZ/PDF/Vol3/pg0387.pdf PDF fulltext]
* {{aut|Woodward, Arthur Smith (ed.)}} (1909): ''A Guide to the Fossil Mammals and Birds in the Department of Geology and Palaeontology of the British Museum (Natural History)'' (9th ed.). William Clowes and Sons Ltd., London. [https://archive.org/details/guidetofossilmam00brit Fulltext] at the [[Internet Archive]]

==Further reading==
* ''The Rise of Birds: 225 Million Years of Evolution'' by Sankar Chatterjee<!-- not a very reliable book -->
* ''The Origin and Evolution of Birds'' by Alan Feduccia<!-- possibly more unreliable than Chatterjee -->
* ''Fossils (Smithsonian Handbooks)'' by David Ward

==External links==
* Corbis: [http://pro.corbis.com/Enlargement/Enlargement.aspx?id=DK004457&ext=1 Photo] of the [[Biology:Holotype|holotype]] skull (BMNH A44096). Retrieved 2009-AUG-21.

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1389634}}

[[Category:Pelagornithidae]]
[[Category:Paleogene birds]]
[[Category:Prehistoric bird genera]]

{{Sourceattribution|Odontopteryx}}