Palaeophasianus
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| Palaeophasianus Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Infraclass: | Palaeognathae |
| Family: | †Geranoididae |
| Genus: | †Palaeophasianus Shufeldt, 1913 |
| Species: | †P. meleagroides |
| Binomial name | |
| †Palaeophasianus meleagroides Shufeldt, 1913 | |
| Synonyms | |
Palaeophasianus is an extinct genus of flightless Geranoididae birds that lived in North America during the Eocene period. Robert Wilson Shufeldt classified Palaeophasianus as a galliform when he described it in 1913.[1] However it was transferred to Cracidae in 1964 by Pierce Brodkorb,[2] while Joel Cracraft in 1968 placed it in Gruiformes.[3][4]
The only species in this genus is P. meleagroides,[5][6] and it is described as a "ground-dwelling carnivore".[6] The fossil remains were found by the American Museum expedition of 1910 in Big Horn County, Wyoming, in the Willwood formation (early Eocene).[7]
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