Palaelodidae

Palaelodids
Reconstructed skeleton of Palaelodus ambiguus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Class:	Aves
Order:	Phoenicopteriformes
Family:	†Palaelodidae Stejneger, 1885
Genera
†Adelalopus †Palaelodus †Megapaloelodus

Palaelodidae is a family of extinct birds in the group Phoenicopteriformes, which today is represented only by the flamingos.^[1] They have been described as "swimming flamingos."

They can be considered evolutionarily, and ecologically, intermediate between flamingos and grebes.^[2]

Three genera are recognised:

• Adelalopus, called the "stout-legged flamingos" (Borgloon Early Oligocene of Hoogbutsel, Belgium)^[3]
• Palaelodus (Middle Oligocene -? Middle Pleistocene)
• Megapaloelodus (Late Oligocene - Early Pliocene)

References

1. Mayr, Gerald (2004). "Morphological evidence for sister group relationship between flamingos (Aves: Phoenicopteridae) and grebes (Podicipedidae)." (PDF). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 140 (2): 157–169. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2003.00094.x. ISSN 0024-4082. Retrieved November 3, 2009.
2. Mayr, Gerald (2006). "The contribution of fossils to the reconstruction of the higher-level phylogeny of birds" (PDF). Species, Phylogeny and Evolution 3: 59–64. ISSN 1098-660X. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
3. Gál, Erika; Hir, János; Kessler, Eugén; Kókay, József; Venczel, Márton. "Középsõ-miocén õsmaradványok a Mátraszõlõs, Rákóczi-kápolna alatti útbevágásból. II. A Mátraszõlõs 2. lelõhely" [Middle Miocene fossils from the section of the road at the Rákóczi Capel, Mátraszõlõs. II. Locality Mátraszõlõs 2.] (PDF). Folia Historico Naturalia Musei Matraensis (in Hungarian and English): 39–75. Retrieved 28 July 2011.

• Hugueney, Marguerite; Berthet, Didier; Bodergat, Anne-Marie; Escuillié, François; Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile; Wattinne, Aurélia (2003). "La limite Oligocène-Miocène en Limagne-changements fauniques chez les mammifères, oiseaux et ostracodes des différents niveaux de Billy-Créchy (Allier, France)". Geobios (in French and English) 36: 719–731. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2003.01.002.
• Milne-Edwards, Alphonse (1863). "Mémoire sur la distribution géologique des oiseaux fossiles et description de quelques espèces nouvelles". Annales des Sciences Naturelles (in French) 4 (20): 132–176.
• Mayr, Gerald (2006). "The contribution of fossils to the reconstruction of the higher-level phylogeny of birds" (PDF). Species, Phylogeny and Evolution 1: 59–64. ISSN 1098-660X. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
• Miller, Loye H. (1954). "The Avifauna of the Barstow Miocene of California" (PDF). The Condor 56 (5): 296–301.