By Dave Tucker
June 30, 2010
FOSSIL FOOT PRINT OF GIANT EOCENE BIRD, DIATRYMA, FOUND IN CHUCKANUT FORMATION
A 50-million-year-old fossilized footprint of Diatryma, a giant flightless bird, has been found in the Eocene Chuckanut Formation in Whatcom County, northwest Washington State.
The single three-toed footprint measures 25 x 27.5 cm (10 by 11 in) and appears to be the world’s only authenticated Diatryma track. Diatryma (Greek, ‘through a hole’, a reference to perforations in some of the foot bones) was a 2+ meter tall (6.5 feet), perhaps 175 kg (385 pound) flightless bird (Feduccia, 1999). The giant bird’s foot track is impressed 2 cm into a thin veneer of mudstone laminated over sandstone on a 1.5 m x 1 m x 20 cm (5 x 3 foot x 8”) slab. The bird walked across mud deposited on top of sand, probably on the bank of a stream in the subtropical floodplain environment of the Chuckanut Formation. Western Washington University’s geology department has removed the rock slab with the footprints via helicopter for display later in 2010. The exhibit at WWU Geology department is open to the public- read about it here. And here is a list of all this blog many entries reports on the footprint and the museum display. Here is the story about the paleontology paper written by George Mustoe, Dave Tucker and Keith Kemplin that was published in Palaeontology in Fall 2012.
- Skeleton and foot bones at Museum of Natural History, New York.
The trace fossil was identified as a Diatryma track by Western Washington University paleontologist George Mustoe. George is well known for his published studies on Chuckanut Formation fossils, including tracks of smaller birds and mammals (see references below). There are other bird tracks on the same slab. Most of these are from unknown small wading birds, and measure only 2-3 cm across. There is a partial track of a heron-sized bird on one edge of the slab.
The Diatryma trace fossil was discovered in spring of 2009, as Mustoe and Keith Kemplin looked at plant fossils in the rubble of the January, 2009 Racehorse Creek landslide. The track was in plain view nearly a year, and was a well-known visitor attraction for those willing to make the climb through the slide debris. Recognizing the value of this track to science and as a public attraction, a volunteer committee materialized to keep watch over the track and to arrange for its protection and eventual removal for display. In spring of 2010, an incipient fracture began to separate the thin mudstone veneer holding the Diatryma track from the sandstone underlayment of the slab.
Shortly after, someone chipped away and removed two of the smaller bird tracks on the margin of the slab. Given the friable nature of the rock, those tracks were probably destroyed in the process. To protect the slab from further damage or even from outright theft by commercial or amateur fossil hunters, the committee moved the ‘Big Bird’ slab on a purpose-built wooden sled a few meters away and covered it with about 1 ton of sandstone slabs.
Vegetarian, or carnivore?
The first thing that jumps out when you see a Diatryma reconstruction is the monstrous beak. At first glance, and probably the next several, you’ll think “Carnivore! Glad they are extinct!” But wait. Whether or not Diatryma was herbivorous or carnivorous is a matter of some controversy in the world of avian paleontologists. Papers have been published examining the evidence for carnivory. Some artist’s renderings (and here’s another) show fierce Diatrymas preying on the early horse Hyracotherium (once known as Eohippus); tracks of this or a similar small mammal, perhaps early tapirs, are found in the Chuckanut Formation. Whitmer and Rose (1991) wrote a highly readable and nicely illustrated study of Diatryma jaw mechanics, and concluded that this gigantic bird was a meat eater, specializing in bone-crushing, though they could say whether via predation or scavenging. But, that study did not demonstrate carnivory, only that the gigantic bird possessed a very strong mandible and beak. Other studies (e.g. Andors, 1991, 1992) are equally convincing for folivory or leaf eating. Andors asserts that a heavy beak would be very useful for cutting tough vegetation, and flightlessness is generally associated with vegetable diet rather than carnivory. That is because leaves take time and considerable energy to digest in the bird’s stomach, energy that would otherwise be used for flight. Andors also states the morphology of the pelvis and femur to indicate a pedestrian (walking or striding), rather than a cursory (running) gait.
The Chuckanut foot track sheds further light on the subject. What? How does a footprint do that? Most reconstructions of the feet of Diatryma show long, grasping talons, similar to modern raptors. Such toes are almost universally present in carnivorous birds, and are used to snag and hold prey. Skeletal foot remains, however, do not indicate the amount of flesh covering the bones of the foot. The newly found track clearly shows only very short, small, pointy claws at the front of the toes, not long talons. This condition is more commonly associated with plant-eating birds.
The combination of huge size, flightlessness, and the talon-free toes probably swings the balance in favor of a plant-eating Diatryma, certainly to the dismay of many hoping for a more fearsome beast . We’ll see how well interpretations based on the foot track pass muster when the paper (Mustoe, Tucker and Kemplin) is eventually peer reviewed.
The original anatomical description of a largely complete fossilized Diatryma, with numerous photos of skeletal parts, is found in Mathew and Granger (1917).
The Rescue
The fossil bird track was flown out with the help of Columbia Helicopters (of Portland Oregon) on Monday July 12. The giant Boeing/Kawasaki Vertol 107-II. Despite the thin drizzle and light breeze, the heavy wooden sled constructed to support the ~1300 pound (585 kg) slab was flown with little drama to the waiting WWU flatbed. After a safe landing, interviews and photos were taken for the Bellingham Herald story (to be published Tuesday, July 13) written by Dean Kahn. There were lots of happy and relieved volunteers once the slab was firmly secured to the truck.
Diatryma? Or Gastornis?
Very similar fossil remains of the same age in Europe have been placed in the genus Gastornis. Reevaluation of the taxonomy may yet show that Diatryma may be congenetic with this other huge bird (Buffetaut, 1997). If that is the case, then the genus Gastornis will take precedence, as it was used first in taxonomic descriptions. In the meantime, ‘Diatryma’ is usually used for the North American birds. In the early Eocene, North American and Europe were still connected by a polar land bridge through Greenland and Scandinavia, so the birds could have spread one way or the other; most specialists will agree that radiation was probably east to west.
There is enormous popular interest on the internet for Diatryma / Gastornis. Search images on the internet for ‘Diatryma’ to see for yourself. Diatryama/Gastornis is a character in an online game, ‘Carnivores: Ice Age’(even though they lived in the Eocene, not Pleistocene, but what’s a few million years, anyway?), and in something called ‘Final Fantasy XI’. There are Facebook pages for these birds, too (of course). And then there is this Diatryma toy, this Diatryma postage stamp from Tanzania, this one from Palau, and this one from Oman. Oh, and these cleverly disguised bank robbers. And last, these French rockers from 1973, who named there band ‘Diatryma’.
References:
- Andors, A. V., 1991, Paleobiology and relationships of the giant groundbird Diatryma (Aves: Gastornithiformes): Acta XX congressus internationalis ornithologi
- Andors, A.V., 1992, Reappraisal of the Eocene groundbird Diatryma (Aves: Anserimophae): In K. E. Campbell, Jr. (ed.), Papers in avian paleontology honoring Pierce Brodkorb, Science Series No.36: p 109-125. Los Angeles: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
- Buffetaut, E., 1997, New remains of the giant bird Gastornis from the Upper Paleocene of the eastern Paris Basin and the relationships between Gastornis and Diatryma: Neues Jahrbuen fur Geologie und Palaontologie, v. 1997, n. 3 p 179-90. (in English)
- Feduccia, Alan, 1999, The origin and evolution of birds (2nd Edition): New Haven : Yale University Press, 1999. 466 pages. The section on Diatryma is partially available online at Google Books. A copy is available at the Western Washington University library.
- Mathew, W.D., and Granger, W., 1917, The skeleton of Diatryma, a gigantic bird from the Lower Eocene of Wyoming: Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, v. 37, p. 307-336.
- Mustoe, G., Dilhoff, R., and Dillhoff, T., 2007, Geology and paleontology of the early Tertiary Chuckanut Formation: in Stelling and Tucker, eds., , Floods, Faults, and Fire: Geological Field Trips in Washington State and Southwest British Columbia (Cordilleran GSA Field Guide). A full bibliography of other Chuckanut paleontology papers by Mustoe and various colleagues is in the references at the back of the above listed paper.
- Witmer, L.M., and Rose, K.D., 1997, Biomechanics of the jaw apparatus of the gigantic Eocene bird Diatryma: implications for diet and mode of life: Paleobiology, v. 17, n. 2, p. 95-120.
I am blown away by the depth of your research and the scholarly nature of your writing. And you do it all without talking down to us lay people. Great blog, Mr. Tuck!
Bob, don’t forget that I am essentially a ‘lay people’ myself. Of course, it is fairly easy to talk down to short guys like you!
DT
Tuck, just be aware that short guys like Bob and me can see the rocks quicker than you because we’re already closer to them….so aHAH! (As my 5’2″ mom used to say, “I’m tall enough to reach the ground!)
(Consider that Diatryma would take a while to bend down from its height just to get a bite to eat.)
Why is it that you ‘height challenged’ types are such smartie pants?
Dear Dave,
The two genera were synonymized in 2002 by Mlíkovský: Jirí Mlíkovský, 2002: Cenozoic Birds of the World Part 1: Europe: Praha Ninox Press, 2002: 1-407, but also as a pdf availlable on the web.
The correct name of the genus at this moment is _Gastornis_ Hébert, 1855.
Sincerely,
Fred Ruhe
Fred,
Thanks for you note. After consulting with our paleontologist, George Mustoe, it is our opinion that Mlikovky’s book does not meet the usual standards for taxonomic revision. He makes a declaration of Diatryma and Gastornis representing a single genus, with the Gastornis name having priority. But there is no careful review of type specimens, no detailed anatomical examination. It’s pretty much “this is true because I say it is”. Keep in mind that books like this don’t go through the peer review process that is required for journals. And this is very small section of a very long book.
Dave
Dear Dave,
I’m sorry, but I do not agree.
1: It does not need to be peer reviewed to change or synomynize a genus or species. To do so is only expressing an opinion, give your data and publishe it. It is a matter of opinion. There are many authors, even before Mlikovsky, saying that Diatryma is a junior synonym to Gastornis, Allison Andors did a lott of work on it. Of course everybody would be glad if everybody aplied the same taxonomic names for ever. But, please, give me the original diagnosis and descriptions of Diatryma and of Gastornis, then we have something to talk about.
Sincerely,
Fred Ruhe
The original descriptions are Cope (1970) for Diatryma and Hebert (1855) for Gastornis, but there have been numerous emendations. There has long been speculation that Diatryma and Gastornis represent a single genus, but no one has actually made a detailed comparison of fossils from North American “Diatryma” and the European “Gastornis”. And there is not yet even a well agreed on view as to the avian family to which these extinct ground dwellers belong. Dr. Andor’s excellent PhD dissertation is the most detailed attempt that has so far been made to resolve these issues, but he concluded that data are presently insufficient to declare Diatryma and Gastornis to by synonymous. In contrast, Milakovsky offered no new evidence, and his brief entry is indeed little more than a personal opinion that provides scant justification for accepting his taxonomic revision. I would not at all be surprised if Gastornis and Diatryma represent a single genus, but taxonomic revisions that are made without studying the type specimens are of doubtful merit.
It appears that there were more than one name used over time, and these birds seem to have been different enough (perhaps for lack of comparative fossils) difference to allow for such.
Gastornis Hébert, 1855
Barornis Marsh, 1894
Diatryma Cope, 1876
Omorhamphus Sinclair, 1928
Ornithoformipes Patterson & Lockley, 2004
Ornitholithus Dughi & Sirugue, 1962
which are all listed as synonyms for Gastornis on wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastornis
and a 2003 paper:
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0031-10492003000400001
Mark,
All those generic terms have been applied to fossil bones which may be from the same genus. Diatryma is the generally accepted genus in North America, while European specimens are now assigned to Gastornis. The other genus names you list are probably superceded by either Diatryma or Gastornis as the earliest-used names. The jury is out whether these two are the same bird (so to speak) or not. Bird in mind (sorry, couldn’t resist) that the Chuckanut fossil tracks can not themselves be called Diatryma – you have to have fossils from the animal to do that. Consequently, track fossils are given separate scientific names. We have submitted a paper on the Chuckanut tracks and assign the name Avaripeda gigantea to them. This name means ” giant footprints from a riverbank-dwelling bird.” The first person to find fossil Diatryma bones in the Chuckanut formation gets a big prize: fame and glory forever and ever, amen.
DT
So what sort of poo and what sort of eggs have been found of the Washington state birds? http://news.yahoo.com/longest-fossilized-poop-drops-auction-house-164309780.html Is the fossil found in 2012 though dated at a different time?? similar in any way? Any bones found in WA state near Toledo, WA recently?
No remains of these big birds have been found in Washington other than tracks.
Dave
How can I identify a prehistoric print found in stone it’s rather deep?
Tina,
Hmmmmmm. So many variables. First off, send a photo to me at mountbakerresearch at gmail dot com. Perhaps I can direct you from there.
Dave Tucker