Liptornis


Liptornis is an extinct genus of fossil birds of uncertain affinities. The type species is L. hesternus. It was described by Argentine palaeontologist Florentino Ameghino in 1894 from a large cervical vertebra from the Middle Miocene Santa [Cruz Formation, Argentina|Santa Cruz Formation] of Patagonia. At the time, it was referred to the Pelecanidae, though this is questionable. In his 1933 palaeornithological review, Lambrecht referred it only to the superfamily Sulides without placing it in a family. A later study has suggested family Anhingidae.