Aegialornis^[1] is a genus of prehistoric apodiform bird. It formed a distinct family Aegialornithidae and was in some ways intermediate between modern swifts and owlet-nightjars, lacking the more extreme adaptations to an aerial lifestyle that swifts show today, but already having sickle-shaped wings like them. They do not appear to be a direct ancestor of modern swifts, however, but rather a group that retained an overall basal morphology. Altogether, they were not too dissimilar to modern treeswifts. In scientific nomenclature, synonyms are different scientific names used for a single taxon. ... Alphonse Milne-Edwards (October 13, 1835 _ April 21, 1900) was a French ornithologist. ... 1892 (MDCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... For other uses of the word, please see Genus (disambiguation). ... Families Apodidae Hemiprocnidae Traditionally, the bird order Apodiformes contained three families: the swifts, Apodidae, the tree swifts, Hemiprocnidae, and the hummingbirds, Trochilidae. ... “Aves” redirects here. ... In biological classification, family (Latin: familia, plural familiae) is 1) a rank or 2) a taxon in that rank. ... Genera Many; see text. ... † see also: Hummingbird Swift The tree swifts or crested swifts are aerial near passerine birds, closely related to the true swifts. ...

Fossils of Aegialornis have been found in Middle to Late Eocene deposits of Germany and France. An Early Eocene record from the Nanjemoy Formation of Virginia, USA (USNM 496384) is very doubtful, as apodiform birds seem not to have occurred there until after the Eocene. This bone might more properly belong to the Parvicuculidae (Mayr & Mourer-Chauviré 2005). The taxonomy of the species is quite convoluted, with both the smaller A. germanicus and the larger A. leenhardti being sometimes considered junior synonyms of A. gallicus, which in turn is sometimes erroneously assumed to be identical to Cypselavus gallicus. Similarly, A. broweri is occasionally considered to be based on small individuals of A. wetmorei, and these latter two taxa were recently separated as genus Mesogiornis (Mlíkovský, 2002); this does not appear to have found general acceptance however. The presumed species Aegialornis szarskii is now placed in Scaniacypselus. hfajhfiudshfas == == == --24. ... Official language(s) English Capital Richmond Largest city Virginia Beach Area  Ranked 35th  - Total 42,793 sq mi (110,862 km²)  - Width 200 miles (320 km)  - Length 430 miles (690 km)  - % water 7. ... In zoological nomenclature, synonyms are different scientific names that pertain to the same taxon, for example two names for the same species. ...

It is not quite certain which genera apart from the present one should be included in the Aegialornithidae. Primapus belongs either here or is a basal true swift, and Cypselavus is either an aegialornithid or a treeswift. The latter group is sometimes controversially included in the Aegialornithidae, as are the Jungornithidae, another prehistoric apodiform family that was somewhat intermediate between treeswifts and hummingbirds.

References

• Mayr, Gerald & Mourer-Chauviré: A specimen of Parvicuculus Harrison & Walker 1977 (Aves: Parvicuculidae) from the early Eocene of France. Bull. B. O. C. 125(4): 299-304. PDF fulltext

• Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002): Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press, Prague. PDF fulltext. ISBN 80-901105-3-8

The Bulletin of the British Ornithologists Club (ISSN 0007-1595) is an ornithological journal published by the British Ornithologists Club. ...

Footnotes

1. ^ Etymology: Aegialornis, "beach bird", from Ancient Greek aegial-, "beach" + ornis, "bird". The first bones were recovered from sediments of a former lagoon at Quercy, France.