Barawertornis

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iBarawertornis
Conservation status
Extinct (fossil)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Anseriformes Family: Dromornithidae Genus: Barawertornis P. Rich, 1979 Species: B. tedfordi
Binomial name
Barawertornis tedfordi P. Rich, 1979

Barawertornis tedfordi was a dromornithid anseriform bird hailing from Late Oligocene to Early Miocene strata of the Riversleigh deposits located at two sites in Northwestern Queensland, Australia. It was described in 1979 by Patricia Vickers-Rich from poor but diagnostic fossil remains, though more specimens have been subsequently found.

As all dromornithids, Barawertornis was a fleet-footed flightless avian herbivore that dwelt in the forest habitat covering most of Australia at the time of the bird's existence.

B. tedfordi is currently the smallest known species of "demon duck", comparable in size to the cassowary weighing in at 80 to 95 kilograms.

[edit] See also

• History of Australia
• Australian megafauna
• Dromornithidae

[edit] References

• Rich, P. (1979): The Dromornithidae, an extinct family of large ground birds endemic to Australia. Bureau of National Resources, Geology and Geophysics Bulletin 184: 1–196.
• Walter E. Boles. A New Flightless Gallinule (Aves: Rallidae: Gallinula) from the Oligo-Miocene of Riversleigh, Northwestern Queensland, Australia. (2005) Records of the Australian Museum Vol. 57: 179–190. ISSN 0067-1975. Retrieved 17 October 2006.
• Australia Museum Online: Birds – Fact Sheets: 'Thunder Birds' - The Family Dromornithidae. Retrieved 17 October 2006.
• Society Of Avian Paleontology And Evolution. Information Letter n° 13. (October 1999). Retrieved 17 October 2006.