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Extinct genus of birds

Pseudocrypturus

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Pseudocrypturus

Key facts

instance offossil taxon
taxon namePseudocrypturus
taxon rankgenus

Pseudocrypturus is a genus of extinct paleognathous bird. Three species are known and the type species is Pseudocrypturus cercanaxius. It is a relative of such modern birds as ostriches. It lived in the early Eocene. The holotype fossil is in the collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. It has catalog number USNM 336103. It was collected from the Fossil Butte Member, Green River Formation, Lincoln County, Wyoming.

Taxonomy

Cast at Aathal Dinosaur Museum
Cast at Aathal Dinosaur Museum

Pseudocrypturus means false tinamou. The type species name, cercanaxius, comes from ancient Greek words kerkion, tail, and anaxios, worthless, in reference to the rudimentary pygostyle of the species.

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Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source article