Protodontopteryx

Protodontopteryx; Temporal range: Early Paleocene, ~62–61.5 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	†Odontopterygiformes
Family:	†Pelagornithidae
Genus:	†Protodontopteryx; Mayr et al., 2019
Type species
	†Protodontopteryx ruthae; Mayr et al., 2019

Protodontopteryx is a genus of pelagornithid (pseudotooth bird) that lived in New Zealand roughly 62 million years ago, during the early Paleocene epoch. It contains one species, Protodontopteryx ruthae. Protodontopteryx is the smallest, oldest, and most basal pelagornithid discovered.^[1]

^ Mayr, Gerald; De Pietri, Vanesa L.; Love, Leigh; Mannering, Al; Scofield, Richard Paul (17 September 2019). Benson, Roger (ed.). "Oldest, smallest and phylogenetically most basal pelagornithid, from the early Paleocene of New Zealand, sheds light on the evolutionary history of the largest flying birds". Papers in Palaeontology. 7 (1): 217–233. doi:10.1002/spp2.1284. ISSN 2056-2799.

[:0-1] Mayr, Gerald; De Pietri, Vanesa L.; Love, Leigh; Mannering, Al; Scofield, Richard Paul (17 September 2019). Benson, Roger (ed.). "Oldest, smallest and phylogenetically most basal pelagornithid, from the early Paleocene of New Zealand, sheds light on the evolutionary history of the largest flying birds". Papers in Palaeontology. 7 (1): 217–233. doi:10.1002/spp2.1284. ISSN 2056-2799.

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