Dynamopterus
| Dynamopterus Temporal range: Oligocene | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Cuculiformes |
| Family: | Cuculidae |
| Genus: | †Dynamopterus Milne-Edwards, 1892 |
| Species: | †D. velox |
| Binomial name | |
| †Dynamopterus velox Milne-Edwards, 1892 | |
| Synonyms | |
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Dynamopterus velox is a prehistoric bird, known from a single large right humerus recovered in France. The humerus shares anatomical features with living cuckoos (though it is much larger). It has also been classified in the suborder Cariamae in the Gruiformes. Some fossils once thought to be Dynamopterus tuberculatus may actually belong to Perplexicervicidae, a newly identified group of birds with bumpy neck bones that might have helped protect them from predators.