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New evidence of a giant bird from the Late Cretaceous of France

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2012

ERIC BUFFETAUT  and
DELPHINE ANGST
ERIC BUFFETAUT*
Affiliation:
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 8538, Laboratoire de Géologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
DELPHINE ANGST
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon, CNRS UMR 5276, 2 rue Dubois, 69622 Villeurbanne Cedex, France
*
†Author for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

A large heterocoelous cervical vertebra from the Late Cretaceous of Cruzy (Hérault, southern France) is described and referred to the giant bird Gargantuavis philoinos Buffetaut & Le Loeuff, 1998, confirming its avian nature. Gargantuavis appears to have been a long-necked bird with possibly a relatively small skull. Derived features such as heterocoely suggest that Gargantuavis was an advanced ornithuromorph, close to ornithurines.

Keywords

AvesLate CretaceousFranceGargantuavisvertebra
Type
Rapid Communication
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 150 , Issue 1 , January 2013 , pp. 173 - 176
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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