Oligocene birds

Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme polar regions. Most species live in forests or woodland habitats, although a few species are known that live in treeless areas, such as rocky hillsides and deserts, and the Gila woodpecker specializes in exploiting cacti.

Teratornithidae is an extinct family of very large birds of prey that lived in North and South America from the Late Oligocene to Late Pleistocene. They include some of the largest known flying birds. Its members are known as teratorns.

species of bird (fossil)

Anthropornis is a genus of giant penguin that lived 45-33 million years ago, during the Late Eocene and the earliest part of the Oligocene.

Presbyornis is an extinct genus of presbyornithid bird from North America during the Paleogene period, between the Late Paleocene and Early Eocene.

Kairuku is an extinct genus of penguin. It contains three species, K. grebneffi, K. waitaki and K. waewaeroa. This taxon is known from bones from 27 MYA (late Oligocene), from the Kokoamu Greensand Formation of New Zealand. It was historically referred to as Palaeeudyptes.

Paraphysornis is an extinct genus of giant flightless terror birds that inhabited Brazil during Late Oligocene or Early Miocene epochs. Although not the tallest phorusrhacid, Paraphysornis measured up to tall at the hips and weighed around . It was also a notably robust bird, having short and robust tarsal bones not suited for pursuit hunting.

Psilopterus (Greek for "bare wing") is an extinct genus of phorusrhacid ("terror bird") from the Middle Oligocene to possibly the Late Pleistocene of Argentina and Uruguay. Compared to other phorusrhacids, members of the genus are both relatively gracile and diminutive, and include the smallest known species of terror bird: with the head raised P. bachmanni was in height and weighed about , while the largest members of the genus were only about . The birds resemble the modern cariama (Cariama cristata), except with a heavier build and considerably smaller wings. Fossil finds in Uruguay indicat

species of bird (fossil)

Palaeeudyptes is an extinct genus of large penguins, currently containing four accepted species. They were probably larger than almost all living penguins, with the smaller species being about the size of an emperor penguin, and the largest species, Palaeeudyptes klekowskii, estimated to reach long (measuring tip of beak to tail) and weighed up to .

Physornis is an extinct genus of giant flightless predatory birds of the family Phorusrhacidae or "terror birds", most closely related to Paraphysornis, that lived in Argentina. The type species is P. fortis. It lived during the Middle to Late Oligocene (Deseadan). Few fossils are known, but the available material suggests that Physornis was one of the largest phorusrhacids.

Archaeospheniscus is an extinct genus of large penguins. It currently contains three species, known from somewhat fragmentary remains. A. wimani, the smallest species (about the size of a gentoo penguin), was found in Middle or Late Eocene strata (34-50 MYA) of the La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island, Antarctica, whereas the other two, about the size of a modern emperor penguin, are known from bones recovered from the Late Oligocene Kokoamu Greensand Formation (27-28 MYA) at Duntroon, New Zealand.

Palaelodus is an extinct genus of bird of the Palaelodidae family, distantly related to flamingos. They were slender birds with long, thin legs and a long neck resembling their modern relatives, but likely lived very different livestyles. They had straight, conical beaks not suited for filter feeding and legs showing some similarities to grebes. Their precise lifestyle is disputed, with researchers in the past suggesting they may have been divers, while more recent research suggests they may have used their stiff toes as paddles for swimming while feeding on insect larvae and snails. This beha

Bathornithidae is an extinct family of birds from the Eocene to Miocene of North America. Part of Cariamiformes, they are related to the still extant seriemas and the extinct Phorusrhacidae. They were likely similar in habits, being terrestrial, long-legged predators, some of which attained massive sizes.

Bathornis ("tall bird") is an extinct genus of birds related to modern day seriemas, that lived in North America about 37–20 million years ago. Like the closely related and also extinct phorusrhacids, it was a flightless predator, occupying predatory niches in environments classically considered to be dominated by mammals. It was a highly diverse and successful genus, spanning a large number of species that occurred from the Priabonian Eocene to the Burdigalian Miocene epochs.

species of bird (fossil)

Andrewsornis is an extinct genus of giant flightless predatory birds of the family Phorusrhacidae or "terror birds" that lived in Oligocene Argentina. Fossils have been found in the Sarmiento Formation, and possibly the Agua de la Piedra Formation.

Barawertornis is an extinct genus of cassowary-sized dromornithid known from Oligocene and Miocene deposits in Queensland and South Australia. Only a single species, B. tedfordi, is placed in this genus. It shows adaptations towards a cursorial lifestyle. Like other dromornithids, Barawertornis was probably a folivorous and frugivorous browser.

Hoazinavis is an extinct genus of bird related to the hoatzin from Late Oligocene and Early Miocene (about 24–22 mya) deposits of Brazil. It was collected in 2008 from the Tremembé Formation of São Paulo, Brazil. It was first named by Gerald Mayr, Herculano Alvarenga and Cécile Mourer-Chauviré in 2011 and the type species is Hoazinavis lacustris.

Australotadorna alecwilsoni is an extinct genus and species of bird, in the shelduck subfamily of the duck family, from the Late Oligocene of central Australia. The genus name comes from the Latin australis ("southern" or, derivatively, "Australian") and Tadorna (a genus of shelducks). The specific epithet honours Alec Wilson, pastoral lease holder of Frome Downs Station, who supported palaeontological access to, and investigation of, fossil sites on his property. The type locality is Lake Pinpa in the Lake Eyre Basin of north-eastern South Australia.

Resoviaornis is an extinct genus of passerine bird from the Early Oligocene (28.5–29 Ma) of southern Poland. Only one species is recorded for the genus, Resoviaornis jamrozi. A 2024 study affirmed it as being an early songbird (suborder Passeri), with potential affinities to either the Passerides or Corvides.

Paracrax ("near curassow") is a genus of extinct North American flightless birds, possibly related to modern seriemas and the extinct terror birds. Part of Bathornithidae (though some analysis recover it as closer to the living seriemas instead, or possibly entirely out of Cariamiformes), it is a specialised member of this group, being cursorial carnivores much like their South American cousins, some species attaining massive sizes.

Taubatornis is an extinct genus of teratorn from the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene (Deseadan) Tremembé Formation, in the Taubaté Basin, São Paulo state, Brazil. The type species is T. campbelli. It is the oldest known member of the family, about 25 million years old. The presence of a member of this family with this age supports the hypothesis of a South American origin for the Teratornithidae.

Duntroonornis parvus, also referred to as the Duntroon penguin, is a genus and species of extinct penguin from the Late Oligocene of New Zealand. The penguin was relatively small, similar in size to the Fiordland crested penguin. It was described by Brian Marples in 1952 from fossil material (a left tarsometatarsus) collected near Duntroon, from the Kokoamu Greensand Formation, near the border between the Canterbury and Otago regions of the South Island. Fossils found at the Hakataramea Valley may also be referrable to this species. The genus name Duntroonornis means "Duntroon bird". The speci

species of bird (fossil)

Phoeniconotius is an extinct genus of flamingo that lived in Australia from the late Oligocene to the early Miocene. Unlike modern flamingos and the contemporary Phoenicopterus novaehollandiae, it was likely less well adapted for swimming and deep water wading. Phoeniconotius was a robust flamingo with bones more massive than those of the modern greater flamingo. Only a single species is recognized, Phoeniconotius eyrensis.

genus and species of extinct bird