Amitabha (bird)
Amitabha Temporal range: Middle Eocene
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Amitabha
Gulas-Wrobleski and Wrobleski, 2002
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A. urbsinterdictensis
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Amitabha urbsinterdictensis Gulas-Wrobleski and Wrobleski, 2002
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Amitabha urbsinterdictensis is an ancient bird from the Middle Eocene (approximately 50 million years before the present) in North America. One specimen has been found to date. Bonnie Gulas-Wrobleski and Anton Wrobleski described and named it in 2002.[1]
Specimens
The only known specimen of A. urbsinterdictensis is the type, AMNH 30331, which consists of a partial skeleton, including an incomplete humerus, scapula, sternum, and pelvis.[2] It is from the Bridger Formation of Wyoming, which is of Middle Eocene age.[1]
Relationships
In their 2002 paper, Gulas-Wrobleski and Wrobleski found A. urbsinterdictensis to be a crown-group galliform, and a member of the "phasianoids", the group that also includes such birds as peacocks, pheasants, and turkeys.[1] Gerald Mayr criticized this analysis.[2] A 2009 study by Daniel Ksepka found the species to belong neither to the crown nor the stem of the galliformes, but rather to have affinities to the rails.[3]
Name
Explaining their choice of name, Gulas-Wrobleski and Wrobleski wrote, "urbsinterdictensis refers to the "Forbidden City" locality of Wyoming. Amitabha is for Amitabha Buddha, the bodhisattva of enlightenment and compassion, who commonly adopts the form of a peacock when incarnated in the material world".[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Gulas-Wrobleski & Wrobleski 2002
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Mayr 2009, p. 43
- ↑ Ksepka 2009
Literature cited
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