Leakeyornis
Leakeyornis Temporal range:
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Known skull remains of Leakeyornis | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Phoenicopteriformes |
Family: | Phoenicopteridae |
Genus: | Leakeyornis Rich and Walker, 1983 |
Type species | |
Leakeyornis aethiopicus (Harrison and Walker, 1976)
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Synonyms | |
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Leakeyornis is an extinct genus of flamingo from the early to middle Miocene of Kenya, primarily in the area of modern day Lake Victoria. Initially described as a species of Phoenicopterus based on an incomplete skull and various limb bones, it was later found to show a mixture of traits found across modern flamingo genera and subsequently placed in its own genus. It contains a single species, Leakeyornis aethiopicus.
History and naming
Various fossils of Leakeyornis were collected by
The name Leakeyornis honors both Louis Leakey and Mary Leakey for their research into African paleontology.[2]
Description
Although no complete skull is known and postcranial elements of modern flamingo genera are relatively similar to one another, Leakeyornis can be distinguished from other taxa based on various unique features and the combinations of different morphological traits. The skull of Leakeyornis for instance, while incomplete, shows a mixture of features observed in modern flamingo species. In the anatomy of the
In size Leakeyornis was found to have been smaller than the contemporary Harrisonavis from Europe [1] as well as Phoenicopterus novaehollandiae and Phoenicopterus copei.[2]
Rich and Walker note some differences between specimens found in the Hiwegi Formation and those from the Kulu Formation, however taphonomic distortion coupled with erosion render the meaning and origin of these differences uncertain.[2]
Paleobiology
The oldest remains of Leakeyornis date to the early Miocene and were found on Rusinga Island in the east of Lake Victoria.[3] A femur from Maboko Island indicates that Leakeyornis continued to be present in East Africa until the Middle Miocene, however following its extinction no flamingo fossils are known from Africa until at least the late Pliocene.[4]