Archaeodromus anglicus

Archaeodromus anglicus

Mayr, 2021

Common name Nightbird relative
Fossil group Birds
Order Strisores
Family Archaeotrogonidae
Genus Archaeodromus
Taxonomic status Accepted
Geological age Ypresian

Summary

Archaeodromus anglicus was a small archaic member of Strisores, the wider radiation that includes nightjars, potoos, swifts and hummingbirds. It belonged to Archaeotrogonidae, an extinct lineage that combined a generally strisorean skeleton with proportions unlike any living nightbird.

Its ecology is not directly preserved, but the anatomy is consistent with a volant small bird that probably took insects and other small prey. The London Clay material is mainly skeletal rather than plumage or gut content, so aerial or perch based insect feeding should be treated as a well grounded inference rather than direct evidence.

Quick Identification

Look for: a small bird limb bone with the proportions and joint shapes of an archaic strisorean. Species level identification normally needs a well preserved humerus, coracoid or associated skeleton and direct comparison with published Archaeodromus material; isolated shaft fragments are not diagnostic.

Diagnostic Features

  • On the humerus, the dorsal tubercle is narrow and elongate rather than broad and rounded.
  • The ventral supracondylar tubercle extends proximally to about the level of the dorsal condyle.
  • The flexor process of the distal humerus is comparatively blunt rather than sharply projecting.
  • The coracoid lacks the supracoracoid nerve foramen present in the superficially similar Eocolius.
  • The diagnostic combination is best assessed from associated pectoral and wing bones, not isolated undiagnostic fragments.

Fossil Details

Preservation
London Clay bird bones may be incomplete, pyritised, compressed or preserved within concretions. Joint ends are particularly important and should not be reconstructed from worn fragments.

Similar Species

Recorded Fossil Sites

No fossil-site occurrences have yet been recorded for this species.

Last Reviewed
16 August 2026 Reviewed by Sam Harris