Protoplotus
| Protoplotus Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Suliformes |
| Family: | †Protoplotidae van Tets, Rich, & Marino, 1989 |
| Genus: | †Protoplotus Lambrecht, 1931 |
| Species: | †P. beauforti |
| Binomial name | |
| †Protoplotus beauforti Lambrecht, 1931 | |
Protoplotus (meaning "original Plotus") is an extinct genus of waterbird that inhabited Indonesia during the early-mid Cenozoic, most likely during the Eocene.[1] It contains a single species, P. beauforti (named after Lieven Ferdinand de Beaufort) known from a largely complete, well-preserved skeleton from the Sangkarewang Formation of Indonesia. It is the only member of the family Protoplotidae and, depending on age, one of the earliest known Suliformes.[2][3][4]
Protoplotus was a rather small waterbird that inhabited the freshwater rift lake where the Sangkarewang Formation would be deposited. It closely resembled and likely had a similar lifestyle to modern cormorants and darters, and for a while was considered to belong to the Anhingidae. However, more recent studies have found it to be distinct from both, and it is now placed in its own family, which is though to be related to both cormorants and anhingas.[4]
Uniquely, the single fossil skeleton of Protoplotus preserves gastroliths. This suggests that it may have seasonally switched its diet from fish to fruit.[4][5]
References
- ^ "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
- ^ Tets, G. F. V.; Rich, P.; Marino-Hadiwardoyo, H. R. (1989). "A reappraisal of Protoplotus beauforti from the early tertiary of Sumatra and the basis of a new pelecaniform family". Publ. Geol. Res. Dev. Cent., Paleontol. Ser (5): 57–75. S2CID 134194501.
- ^ Rich, Patricia V.; Hou, Lian H.; Ono, Keiichi; Baird, Robert F. (1986-01-01). "A review of the fossil birds of China, Japan and Southeast Asia". Geobios. 19 (6): 755–772. Bibcode:1986Geobi..19..755R. doi:10.1016/S0016-6995(86)80106-1. ISSN 0016-6995.
- ^ a b c Mayr, Gerald (2022), Mayr, Gerald (ed.), "Phaethontiformes and Aequornithes: The Aquatic and Semi-aquatic Neaovian Taxa", Paleogene Fossil Birds, Fascinating Life Sciences, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 117–152, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-87645-6_7, ISBN 978-3-030-87645-6, retrieved 2025-01-15
- ^ Zhou, Zhonghe; Clarke, Julia; Zhang, Fucheng; Wings, Oliver (2004-12-01). "Gastroliths in Yanornis: an indication of the earliest radical diet-switching and gizzard plasticity in the lineage leading to living birds?". Naturwissenschaften. 91 (12): 571–574. Bibcode:2004NW.....91..571Z. doi:10.1007/s00114-004-0567-z. ISSN 1432-1904. PMID 15452699.