Charadriiformes

Charadriiformes is a diverse order of small to medium-large birds. It includes about 390 species and has members in all parts of the world. Most charadriiform birds live near water and eat invertebrates or other small animals; however, some are pelagic (seabirds), others frequent deserts, and a few are found in dense forest. Members of this group can also collectively be referred to as shorebirds.

Charadriiformes

MathKnight · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
shorebirdPBDB
Sits inside
AvesPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Coelurosauria
Life habit
ground dwelling, solitaryPBDB, for Theropoda
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Theropoda
Environment
marinePBDB

Time the record covers

At least 72 million years on record.

The record covers at least 72.2 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 83.6 Mya to 0 Mya.

Late Cretaceous — about 30 of 1949 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 6 of 1949 occurrencesPaleoceneEocene — about 22 of 1949 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 21 of 1949 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 134 of 1949 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 135 of 1949 occurrencesPleistocene — about 771 of 1949 occurrences85–82 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences82–80 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences80–77 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences77–74 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences74–71 Mya — about 5 occurrences71–68 Mya — about 13 occurrences68–65 Mya — about 11 occurrences65–63 Mya — about 2 occurrences63–60 Mya — about 2 occurrences60–57 Mya — about 2 occurrences57–54 Mya — about 3 occurrences54–51 Mya — about 4 occurrences51–48 Mya — about 5 occurrences48–45 Mya — about 2 occurrences45–43 Mya — about 1 occurrence43–40 Mya — about 2 occurrences40–37 Mya — about 2 occurrences37–34 Mya — about 3 occurrences34–31 Mya — about 6 occurrences31–28 Mya — about 7 occurrences28–26 Mya — about 5 occurrences26–23 Mya — about 6 occurrences23–20 Mya — about 20 occurrences20–17 Mya — about 17 occurrences17–14 Mya — about 26 occurrences14–11 Mya — about 20 occurrences11–8.5 Mya — about 21 occurrences8.5–5.7 Mya — about 26 occurrences5.7–2.8 Mya — about 125 occurrences2.8–0 Mya — about 1614 occurrences72.2 Mya11.7 ka85 Mya0 Mya

1,949 occurrences of Charadriiformes on record. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

1,949 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

100 formations

San Diego — 32.80°N, 117.26°WSan Diego — 32.90°N, 117.10°WSan Diego — 32.74°N, 117.17°WSan Diego — 32.71°N, 117.08°WSan Diego — 32.57°N, 117.03°WSan Diego — 32.76°N, 117.13°WSan Diego — 32.74°N, 117.05°WYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WBannockburn — 44.91°S, 169.86°EBannockburn — 44.89°S, 169.84°EIndusial Limestone — 46.26°N, 3.51°EMonterey — 33.56°N, 117.71°WMonterey — 34.61°N, 120.44°WTamiami — 27.34°N, 82.51°WTamiami — 27.37°N, 82.45°WHornerstown — 39.76°N, 75.13°WHornerstown — 39.97°N, 74.68°WHornerstown — 40.13°N, 74.51°WHornerstown — 40.10°N, 74.57°WSan Mateo — 33.20°N, 117.37°WCalvert — 37.77°N, 77.28°WCalvert — 37.77°N, 77.37°WCalvert — 37.66°N, 77.11°WCalvert — 38.55°N, 76.52°WCalvert — 37.97°N, 76.79°WCalvert — 38.17°N, 76.87°WCalvert — 38.17°N, 76.85°WCalvert — 38.42°N, 76.62°WCalvert — 37.93°N, 77.51°WCalvert — 37.62°N, 77.18°WLance — 43.12°N, 104.64°WLance — 43.37°N, 104.70°WLance — 43.17°N, 104.57°WLance — 43.00°N, 104.50°WHillgrove — 45.13°S, 170.97°EAlmejas — 28.11°N, 115.18°WAlmejas — 28.37°N, 115.18°WPeace River — 27.74°N, 81.93°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.60°N, 117.80°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.99°N, 118.45°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.66°N, 117.90°WLondon Clay — 50.78°N, 0.68°WLondon Clay — 51.41°N, 0.91°ELondon Clay — 51.39°N, 0.84°ELondon Clay — 51.85°N, 1.28°EEastover — 37.69°N, 76.97°WEastover — 37.77°N, 77.27°WEastover — 38.17°N, 76.87°WEastover — 38.16°N, 76.83°WSan Pedro — 33.75°N, 118.28°WAlachua — 29.55°N, 82.52°WAlachua — 29.70°N, 82.60°WAlachua — 29.65°N, 82.60°WBorgloon — 50.82°N, 4.82°EManix — 34.80°N, 117.00°WAllen — 39.30°S, 67.53°WAllen — 39.78°S, 66.70°WAcredale — 36.79°N, 76.17°WPungo River — 35.40°N, 76.80°WKempsville — 36.79°N, 76.17°W

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The named rock units Charadriiformes has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 76 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 1,548 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

3,480 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 850 sites for Charadriiformes, and this reads 240 of them. Of that, one read hit the database's own return limit, so every count below is a floor rather than a total. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

379 references

Each of the 1,949 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 367 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Charadriiformes

Credit
MathKnight
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Charadriiformes was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itAves through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Huxley 1867)