Pachystruthio
Extinct genus of birds
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pachystruthio is a genus of extinct bird which lived in Eurasia from the Late Pliocene to the Middle Pleistocene.[1] Its fossils have been found in Hungary, Greece[2] Crimea, Georgia, and China.[3] The genus contains three species: P. pannonicus (the type species), P. dmanisensis, and P. transcaucasicus, which were all formerly placed with the ostrich genus, Struthio. An incomplete femur from the Nihewan Formation (China) has been assigned to Pachystruthio indet. P. dmanisensis has been estimated standing 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) tall and weighing up to 450 kg (990 lb), making it much larger than the modern ostrich and one of the largest known birds.[1][4]
| Pachystruthio Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| |
| Restoration of a male P. dmanisensis. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Infraclass: | Palaeognathae |
| Order: | Struthioniformes |
| Family: | Struthionidae |
| Genus: | †Pachystruthio (Kretzoi, 1954) |
| Type species | |
| Pachystruthio pannonicus (Kretzoi, 1954) | |
| Species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Although P. dmanisensis is known as the giant ostrich, its relationship to the extant ostriches of the genus Struthio is not clear.[1][5]
Some authors have suggested placing the large (albeit smaller than P. dmanisensis) extinct ostrich species Struthio anderssoni from the Late Pleistocene of China in the genus.[6]
See also
- Struthio wimani, flightless bird fossils in China
- Struthio orlovi, flightless bird fossils in Central and Eastern Europe
