DROMORNITHIDS, GASTORNITHIDS & DUCKS

[darren.naish@port.ac.uk]

On the duck poem thing, David Marjanovik wrote..

> I miss something here... the mihirung (Dromornithidae), giant
> flightless birds of Eocene -- Pleistocene Australia, which were just
> found out to be _carnivorous ducks_, with enormous beaks much   
> like *Gastornis* ("*Diatryma*")

My text was only about ducks. Dromornithids might be anseriforms 
but, AFAIK, there is no evidence that they are actually members of 
the Anatidae. Similarly, nobody (to my knowledge) has proposed that 
gastornithids are anatids [note: there's stuff in the archives about a 
possible gastornithid-anhimind link].

DARREN NAISH 
PALAEOBIOLOGY RESEARCH GROUP
School of Earth, Environmental & Physical Sciences
UNIVERSITY OF PORTSMOUTH
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