Megapaloelodus

Megapaloelodus is an extinct genus of stem flamingo of the family Palaelodidae. Megapaloelodus is primarily known from Miocene America, from South Dakota and Oregon in the north to Argentina in the south, but the species Megapaloelodus goliath was found in Europe. Additionally, one unnamed species was discovered in Miocene sediments from Namibia. Due to a lack of skull material, little can be said about the ecology of Megapaloelodus. Species of this genus are typically larger than those of Palaelodus and appear to have inhabited similar brackish lake environments. Additionally, they may have been capable of "locking" their legs in a standing position.

No picture of Megapaloelodus was found. Wikipedia, Wikidata and iDigBio were searched and had none. Smithsonian Open Access did not answer, so this is what the others held rather than everything there is. GBIF was asked, and what came back is not recorded: nothing, or a picture this site could not tie to Megapaloelodus, or no answer at all. This entry cannot say which.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
PalaelodidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Coelurosauria
Life habit
ground dwelling, solitaryPBDB, for Theropoda
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Theropoda
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Theropoda

Time the record covers

At least 9 million years on record.

The record covers at least 16.3 Mya to 7.246 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 5 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 10 occurrencesMiocene — about 10 of 10 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 0 of 10 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences22–22 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences18–18 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences17–17 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences15–15 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences11–11 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences10–9.6 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences9.6–8.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences8.3–7.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences7.7–7.0 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences7.0–6.4 Mya — about 1 occurrence6.4–5.8 Mya — about 1 occurrence5.8–5.1 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences5.1–4.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences16.3 Mya7.246 Mya23.5 Mya4.5 Mya

10 occurrences of Megapaloelodus on record, most of them in the Miocene. 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

10 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

6 formations

Almejas — 28.11°N, 115.18°WAlmejas — 28.37°N, 115.18°WItuzaingo — 31.48°S, 60.23°WItuzaingo — 31.68°S, 60.42°WTemblor — 35.47°N, 118.91°WBarstow — 35.07°N, 117.08°WBatesland — 43.13°N, 101.87°WJuntura — 43.60°N, 117.50°W

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The named rock units Megapaloelodus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 1 occurrence has no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Megapaloelodus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Megapaloelodus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

315 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 9 sites for Megapaloelodus, 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

10 references

Each of the 10 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 content0

No picture of Megapaloelodus was found. Wikipedia, Wikidata and iDigBio were searched and had none.

Smithsonian Open Access did not answer, so this is what the others held rather than everything there is.

GBIF was asked, and what came back is not recorded: nothing, or a picture this site could not tie to Megapaloelodus, or no answer at all. This entry cannot say which.

No 3D scan of Megapaloelodus was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

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 itPalaelodidae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Miller 1944