Pelagornithidae birds are a toothless pelagic bird of the Palaeocene and Eocene of Morocco. Actually, this thin wall boned prehistoric bird had the appearance of teeth in its beak or jaws, these were, in fact, an anatomical feature termed Volkmann’s canals, in the simplest terms Volkmann's canals are any small channels within the bone that transmit blood vessels. These atomic cortical bone structures appear along the outer edge of the birds' jaws and were not very strong, prone to breaking and quickly worn down. Unlike teeth of dentin, these arrangements were more adapted to holding soft-bodied creatures like cephalopods or fish which enabled the toothless birds to grasp and immediately swallow prey.

The Odontopteryx ranged globally and may not have returned to its birthplace but only to reproduce, having a lifestyle similar to the great Albatross of today. Having very fine or hollow bone structures to enable flight, the downside to this was the light construction which may not have normally supported strenuous activity such as diving into the ocean for prey as is quite often depicted, rather to scoop its prey from the surface or just under the surface, its beak being the only part of its body to feel the full force of flight while skimming across the sea.

The enigmatic Pelagornithidae birds narrowly missed early man on earth, Homo habilis 2.6 million years, Pelagornithidae birds show up in the fossil record from the Palaeocene to the end of the Pliocene a reign of about 50 million years. In the Palaeocene fossils have been found of a size of the great Albatross around 3.5 metres wingspans. It is estimated the largest of the Pelagornithidae attained a size of about 5 to 6 metres, with the ability to fly rather than soar, as at one-time science thought Pterosaurs did only soar, today new research is leaning away from those theories for Pterosaurs. The great Pelagornithidae birds must have dominated the ocean scene in great numbers, ranging over much of the planet.

These remains are from a classic fossil bed site in what is now the Middle Atlas of Morocco, North Africa. As the machinery of the largest industry of Morocco near Casablanca, rolls forward it exhumes thousands of tons of phosphates rock for the production of cement, these fossil bones are dredged up as a by-product. If not foraged immediately they become crushed in the automated machinery along with all other phosphate mineral material.

The pelagic birds (a bird that spends a significant portion of its life on the open ocean, rarely venturing to land except to breed), had, therefore, a vast range and are found from South America to North Africa. However their remains are very scarce, perhaps due to the lightweight frame of birds generally, their bones were easily dispersed and broken down rather than fossilising successfully in sediments.

Odontopteryx False Toothed Pre Historic Bird 230mm overall length of the matrix which encapsulates the associated articulated Humerus and Radius/Ulna attachment. The articulation here is a very important feature of the fossil record of the false toothed bird and enables the study of how the joint would have functioned and the articulation of the bones to each other. An important study fossil from this classic Moroccan fossil layer of Benguerir fossil deposit, the Ganntour basin, Oulad Abdoun phosphate mines.

Genus: Pelagornithidae, Odontopteryx gigas, toothless/false toothed bird.
Age: Ypresian stage. Mesozoic, Palaeocene, 66,000,000 to 48,000,000 years.
Origin: Khouribga, Ouled Abdoun Basin, Oued Zem, Morocco, North Africa.

Odontopteryx bone measurements.
Matrix length: 23 cm
Bone span: 11.5 cm

Weight: 1.212 Kg

ODONTOPTERYX FLYING REPTILE. 4M / 13.1FT
HOMO SAPIEN. 1.8M / 6FT