Ludiortyx is a bird genus from the Late Eocene. Its remains have been found in the Montmartre Formation at the Montmartre (Paris, France). A single species is accepted, Ludiortyx hoffmanni.

Ludiortyx
Temporal range: Late Eocene
Skeleton
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Gruiformes (?)
Genus: Ludiortyx
Brodkorb, 1964
Species:
L. hoffmanni
Binomial name
Ludiortyx hoffmanni
(Gervais, 1852)
Synonyms

Genus:

  • Eortyx Brodkorb, 1967

Species:

  • Ludiortyx blanchardi (Milne-Edwards, 1869)

and see text

This bird is of uncertain relationships; it has been variously considered to be an ancestral rail or to belong to the Quercymegapodiidae, a prehistoric group of Galliformes (landfowl). The material assigned to it were initially considered to be of 2 species, one that was at first believed to be a Tringa wader, the other assigned to the galliform genus Palaeortyx.[1] Even the latter assignment was probably much in error as though its relationships are not known, Palaeortyx was probably not a quercymegapodiid.

Synonyms edit

Apart from the genus-level synonym Eortyx, L. hoffmanni has undergone quite a number of name changes due to the confusion about its placement: [1]

  • Tringa hoffmanni Gervais, 1852
  • Palaeortyx hoffmanni (Gervais, 1852)
  • Palaeortyx blanchardi Milne-Edwards, 1869
  • Ludiortyx blanchardi (Milne-Edwards, 1869)
  • Eortyx hoffmanni (Gervais, 1852)

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ a b Mlíkovský (2002)

References edit

  • Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002): Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press, Prague. ISBN 80-901105-3-8 PDF fulltext