Messelastur
Temporal range: Middle Eocene
Skull of Messelastur gratulator
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Clade: Eufalconimorphae
Family: †Messelasturidae
Genus: †Messelastur
Peters, 1994
Type species
†Messelastur gratulator
(Peters, 1994)

Messelastur is a genus of messelasturid bird. It is known from the Messel pit of Germany, which dates to the Eocene.[1][2]

References

  1. ^ Peters, D.S. (1994) Messelastur gratulator n. gen. n. spec., ein Greifvogel as der Grube Messel (Aves: Accipitridae). Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, 170:3-9
  2. ^ G. Mayr. 2011. Well-preserved new skeleton of the Middle Eocene Messelastur substantiates sister group relationship between Messelasturidae and Halcyornithidae (Aves, ?Pan-Psittaciformes). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 9(1):159-171
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