Feducciavis loftini, new genus and species, is described from a single partial associated skeleton from the Middle Miocene Calvert Formation of Virginia. This bird was evidently most closely related to the noddy terns (Anoinae, Anous, Procelsterna). Compared with those genera, the tibiotarsus was much shorter and the ulna much longer in relation to the size of the humerus. The absolute size of the wing was considerably larger than in Anous stolidus, but the sternum was smaller. Aspects of the configuration of the quadrate and mandibular articulation are very distinct from any genus of modern gulls or terns, so that Feducciavis must have had singular feeding habits.

Biological Society of Washington
2011
You do not currently have access to this content.