Pumiliornis Explained

Pumiliornis tessellatus is an ancient bird from the Middle Eocene of Messel, Hesse, Germany. It is described as a wren-sized^[1] anisodactyl bird with a long, slender bill and strong hallux. Its species name tessellatus, meaning "mosaic" in Latin, is a reference to its unusual distribution of characters and uncertain phylogenetic placement.^{[2] [3]} It has some anatomical affinities with Cuculiformes, but similar fossils that might be related to this taxon do not.^[4]

In 2014, a new specimen of Pumiliornis was described that showed preserved stomach contents of pollen grains from a eudicotyledonous angiosperm, making it the earliest fossil evidence of flower-visiting behavior in birds.^[5]

Notes and References

1. Mayr . Gerald . Pumiliornis tessellatus MAYR, 1999 revisited - new data on the osteology and possible phylogenetic affinities of an enigmatic Middle Eocene bird . Paläontologische Zeitschrift . 2008 . 82/3 . 3 . 247–253 . 10.1007/BF02988891. 55757331 .
2. Mayr . Gerald . Pumiliornis tessellatus n. gen. n. sp., a new enigmatic bird from the Middle Eocene of Grube Messel (Hessen, Germany) . Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg . 1999 . 216 . 75–83.
3. Book: Mayr, Gerald . Springer . Paleogene Birds . 2009 . 978-3540896272 . 114–116.
4. Book: Mayr, Gerald . Paleogene Fossil Birds . 115 . 2009 . Springer Science & Business Media . 9783540896289.
5. Mayr . Gerald . Wilde, Volker . Eocene fossil is earliest evidence of flower-visiting by birds . Biology Letters . 2014 . 10 . 5 . 20140223. 10.1098/rsbl.2014.0223 . 24872461 . 4046380.