Haematopus palliatus

The American oystercatcher, occasionally called the American pied oystercatcher, is a member of family Haematopodidae. Originally called the "sea pie", it was renamed in 1731 when naturalist Mark Catesby claimed that he had observed the bird eating oysters. The current population of American oystercatchers is estimated to be 50,000 – 99,999 mature individuals. There are estimated to be 1,500 breeding pairs along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the US. The bird is marked by its black and white body and a long, thick orange beak.

Haematopus palliatus

Rhododendrites · 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
American oystercatcherPBDB
Sits inside
HaematopusPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Coelurosauria
Life habit
ground dwelling, solitaryPBDB, for Theropoda
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Theropoda
Environment
marinePBDB, for Charadriiformes

Time the record covers

At least 1.9 million years on record.

The record covers at least 7.246 Mya to 5.333 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 11.63 Mya to 3.6 Mya.

Miocene — about 1 of 2 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 1 of 2 occurrencesPliocene12–12 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences10–10 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences10–9.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences9.7–9.4 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences9.4–9.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences9.1–8.8 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.8–8.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.5–8.2 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.2–7.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences7.9–7.6 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences7.6–7.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences7.3–7.0 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.5–5.2 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.2–4.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.9–4.6 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.6–4.3 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.3–4.0 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.0–3.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.7–3.4 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences7.246 Mya5.333 Mya12.1 Mya3.1 Mya

2 occurrences of Haematopus palliatus on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group, and the chart stops with its fossils rather than at the present. 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

2 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

2 formations

Yorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WPeace River — 27.75°N, 81.94°W

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The named rock units Haematopus palliatus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Haematopus palliatus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Haematopus palliatus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

436 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 2 sites for Haematopus palliatus, and this reads all of them. 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

2 references

Each of the 2 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. 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 content3

Picture of Haematopus palliatus

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

Structured light scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Haematopus palliatus palliatus · ROM:Birds:123861

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Credit
MooreLab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was 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 itHaematopus through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Temminick 1820