Eocoracias is an extinct genus of bird related to modern rollers and other Coraciiformes such as kingfishers, bee-eaters, motmots, and todies. It contains one species, Eocoracias brachyptera, and it lived approximately 47 million years ago (Lutetian stage) based on dating of the fossil site.[1] It is known for a specimen having preserved non-iridescent structural coloration on its feathers, previously unknown in fossil birds.[2] Fossils have been found at the Messel Pit in Germany.[3]
| Eocoracias Temporal range: Eocene,
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|---|---|
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| Fossil specimen | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Coraciiformes |
| Family: | †Eocoraciidae Mayr & Mourer-Chauviré, 2000 |
| Genus: | †Eocoracias Mayr & Mourer-Chauviré, 2000 |
| Species: | †E. brachyptera
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| Binomial name | |
| †Eocoracias brachyptera Mayr & Mourer-Chauviré, 2000
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See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Mertz, D. F., Renne, P. R. (2005): A numerical age for the Messel fossil deposit (UNESCO World Heritage Site) derived from 40Ar/39Ar dating on a basaltic rock fragment. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg no 255: pp 7–75.
- ^ Frane Babarović; Mark N. Puttick; Marta Zaher; Elizabeth Learmonth; Emily-Jane Gallimore; Fiann M. Smithwick; Gerald Mayr; Jakob Vinther (2019). "Characterization of melanosomes involved in the production of non-iridescent structural feather colours and their detection in the fossil record". Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 16 (155): Article ID 20180921. doi:10.1098/rsif.2018.0921. PMC 6597762. PMID 31238836.
- ^ Mayr, Gerald, and Cécile Mourer-Chauviré. “Rollers (Aves: Coraciiformes S.s.) from the Middle Eocene of Messel (Germany) and the Upper Eocene of the Quercy (France).” Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, vol. 20, no. 3, 2000, pp. 533–546., doi:https://doi.org/10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0533:RACSSF]2.0.CO;2
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