Goliathia is an extinct genus of bird from the Early Oligocene.[1] The holotype is an ulna recovered from lower beds of the Jebel Qatrani Formation in Faiyum Governorate, Egypt. Initially thought to be a heron, an additional bone, a tarsometatarsus, showed this bird to be closely related to the living shoebill. Its full name is Goliathia andrewsii, but may be closely related enough to be classed within the same genus as the living species. The ancient habitat was likely a thickly vegetated freshwater swamp, with this species and a fossil jacana, as well as lungfish and catfish recovered from it. The same size as the living shoebill, it likely ate lungfish and catfish.[2]

Goliathia
Temporal range: 33–28 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Pelecaniformes
Family: Balaenicipitidae
Genus: Goliathia
Lambrecht, 1930
Species:
G. andrewsii
Binomial name
Goliathia andrewsii
Lambrecht, 1930

Sources

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  1. ^ Smith, N.D.; Ksepka, D.T. (2015). "Five well-supported fossil calibrations within the "Waterbird" assemblage (Tetrapoda, Aves)". Palaeontologia Electronica. 18 (1): 1–21. doi:10.26879/483.
  2. ^ D. Tab Rasmussen; Storrs L. Olson; Elwyn L. Simons (1987). "Fossil Birds from the Oligocene Jebel Qatrani Formation, Fayum Province, Egypt" (PDF). Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology (62): 30–31. Retrieved 30 April 2012.