Kingdom Animalia Family Threskiornithidae Rank Genus | Class Aves Phylum Chordata Order Pelecaniformes | |
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Similar Hylarana guentheri, Primobucco, Juncitarsus, Limnofregata, Archaeorhynchus | ||
Rhynchaeites is an extinct genus of Threskiornithidae related to modern ibises and has a single named species Rhynchaeites meselensis. It lived in today's Germany during the mid-Eocene and its remains were found in the famous Messel pit.
However, leg bone fossils of a similar bird were found in the Early Eocene Fur Formation in Denmark. It has been hypothesized that the supposed parrot relative Mopsitta tanta, known from a single humerus bone, is the same bird as the leg fossils and thus actually belongs in Rhynchaeites too.
References
Rhynchaeites Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA