Ron Scarlett described a proximal right humerus found in Middle to Late Miocene (15-8 million-year-old) sediments near the mouth of Waipara River (North Canterbury) as probably that of a pelagornithid. Four years later, Harrison & Walker tentatively assigned the specimen to the Miocene pseudotoothed bird Pelagornis miocaenus.

Pelagornithids (pseudotoothed birds) were gigantic marine birds of uncertain relationships. They had a worldwide distribution between the late Paleocene and the end of the Pliocene (56-3 million years ago). The smallest species were the size of an albatross, and the largest species had wingspans of 5-6 metres.

The Miocene pseudotoothed bird was a large pelagornithid described from the Early and Middle Miocene of France. The only New Zealand specimen (CMNZ AV 24960) is held in Canterbury Museum.

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References

Harrison, C.J.O.; Walker, C.A. 1976. A review of the bony-toothed birds (Odontopterygiformes): with descriptions of some new species. Tertiary Research Special Paper 2: 1-62. London,  Tertiary Research Group.

Mayr, G.; Rubilar-Rogers, D. 2010. Osteology of a new giant bony-toothed bird from the Miocene of Chile, with a revision of the taxonomy of Neogene Pelagornithidae. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30: 1313-1330.

Scarlett, R.J. 1972. Bone of a presumed odontopterygian bird from the Miocene of New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 15: 269-274.

Recommended citation

Miskelly, C.M. 2013 [updated 2022]. Miocene pseudotoothed bird. In Miskelly, C.M. (ed.) New Zealand Birds Online. www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz