Phalacrocoracidae

Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds found worldwide and commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven genera.

Phalacrocoracidae

JJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ ) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · 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
cormorantPBDB
Sits inside
SuliformesPBDB
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 65 million years on record.

The record covers at least 66 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 72.2 Mya to 0 Mya.

Late Cretaceous — about 1 of 327 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 0 of 327 occurrencesEocene — about 2 of 327 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 17 of 327 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 42 of 327 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 33 of 327 occurrencesPleistocene — about 120 of 327 occurrences74–71 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences71–69 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences69–66 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences66–64 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences49–47 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences47–44 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences42–39 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences39–37 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences37–34 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences34–32 Mya — about 1 occurrence32–29 Mya — about 2 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 2 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 7 occurrences25–22 Mya — about 8 occurrences22–20 Mya — about 4 occurrences20–17 Mya — about 1 occurrence17–15 Mya — about 2 occurrences15–12 Mya — about 3 occurrences12–9.8 Mya — about 8 occurrences9.8–7.4 Mya — about 10 occurrences7.4–4.9 Mya — about 14 occurrences4.9–2.5 Mya — about 31 occurrences2.5–0 Mya — about 231 occurrences66 Mya11.7 ka74 Mya0 Mya

327 occurrences of Phalacrocoracidae on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. 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

327 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

42 formations

San Diego — 32.90°N, 117.10°WSan Diego — 32.75°N, 117.17°WSan Diego — 32.68°N, 117.07°WSan Diego — 32.77°N, 117.20°WSan Diego — 32.64°N, 117.03°WSan Diego — 32.74°N, 117.05°WSan Diego — 32.76°N, 117.14°WSan Diego — 32.53°N, 117.05°WHillgrove — 45.13°S, 170.97°EPisco — 15.58°S, 74.72°WPisco — 15.44°S, 74.87°WPisco — 15.50°S, 74.80°WPisco — 15.55°S, 74.80°WPisco — 15.67°S, 74.54°WPisco — 14.34°S, 75.91°WNamba — 31.17°S, 140.23°ENamba — 31.10°S, 140.23°ENamba — 31.02°S, 140.32°ENamba — 30.90°S, 140.17°EPeace River — 27.74°N, 81.93°WPeace River — 27.50°N, 82.50°WAdu Asa — 10.32°N, 40.25°EOlduvai — 2.99°S, 35.34°EOlduvai — 2.98°S, 35.37°EHagerman — 42.79°N, 114.95°WOkeechobee — 27.53°N, 80.47°WTamiami — 27.34°N, 82.51°WTamiami — 27.37°N, 82.45°WVarswater — 33.67°S, 18.43°EEnspel — 50.61°N, 7.89°EAlachua — 29.55°N, 82.52°WAlachua — 29.65°N, 82.60°WYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WBahía Inglesa — 27.08°S, 70.84°WBahía Inglesa — 27.72°S, 70.99°WSan Pedro — 33.75°N, 118.28°WSan Pedro — 34.03°N, 118.53°WHorcón — 32.70°S, 71.46°WGabal Silsila — 24.43°N, 32.95°EBeglia — 34.00°N, 8.00°EGrund — 48.63°N, 16.06°EAcredale — 36.79°N, 76.17°WKempsville — 36.79°N, 76.17°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.60°N, 117.80°WSanta Barbara — 34.41°N, 119.72°W

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The named rock units Phalacrocoracidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 18 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 224 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Phalacrocoracidae and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Phalacrocoracidae and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

3,137 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 219 sites for Phalacrocoracidae, 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

145 references

Each of the 327 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. 133 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 Phalacrocoracidae

Credit
JJ Harrison ( https://www.jjharrison.com.au/ )
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Phalacrocoracidae 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 itSuliformes through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Reichenbach 1850