Eocoracias Explained

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]

See also

Notes and References

  1. 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.
  2. 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 . 10.1098/rsif.2018.0921 . 31238836 . 6597762 .
  3. 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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