29-717: Scaniacypselus is an extinct genus of basal swifts from the Eocene of Denmark, Germany and France. Many well preserved specimens still showing plumage were discovered in the Messel Pit near Darmstadt , Germany. Species of Scaniacypselus had relatively broader wings than modern swifts and hindlimbs better adapted to perching on tree-branches, indicating that the bird was not as aerial as its extant relatives and likely nested in trees like hummingbirds and treeswifts . Two species are recognized, S. wardi and S. szarskii . The first remains of Scaniacypselus were recovered by D.J. Ward from
58-437: A crescent or a boomerang . The flight of some species is characterised by a distinctive "flicking" action quite different from swallows. Swifts range in size from the pygmy swiftlet ( Collocalia troglodytes ), which weighs 5.4 g and measures 9 cm (3.5 in) long, to the purple needletail ( Hirundapus celebensis ), which weighs 184 g (6.5 oz) and measures 25 cm (9.8 in) long. The nest of many species
87-519: A different lifestyle compared to its modern relatives, roosting and nesting in a different manner. Specifically, the ability to perch like hummingbirds and treeswifts suggest that the animal was much more arboreal and nested in trees, spending much less time in flight than true swifts. [REDACTED] Apodidae The Apodidae , or swifts , form a family of highly aerial birds . They are superficially similar to swallows , but are not closely related to any passerine species. Swifts are placed in
116-442: A maximum weight heavier than their parents; they can cope with not being fed for long periods of time, and delay their feather growth when undernourished. Swifts and seabirds have generally secure nest sites, but their food sources are unreliable, whereas passerines are vulnerable in the nest but food is usually plentiful. All swifts eat insects, such as dragonflies, flies, ants, aphids, wasps and bees as well as aerial spiders. Prey
145-437: A member of the family Apodinae, but instead as a more basal member of Apodidae. Aegothelidae (Owlet-nightjar) † Eocypselus † Aegialornis † Primapus † Parargornis † Argornis † Cypselavus † Jungornis † Eurotrochilus Crown- Trochilidae (Hummingbirds) Hemiprocnidae (Treeswifts) † Scaniacypselus Cypseloidinae Apodinae The broader wings of Scaniacypselus clearly show that
174-453: A more distant ancestor. There are around 100 species of swifts, normally grouped into two subfamilies and four tribes. Cypseloidinae Apodinae Swifts are among the fastest of birds in level flight, and larger species like the white-throated needletail have been reported travelling at up to 169 km/h (105 mph). Even the common swift can cruise at a maximum speed of 31 metres per second (112 km/h; 70 mph). In
203-453: A relatively longer ulna and shorter carpometacarpus than its modern relatives. In this regard it more closely resembles treeswifts , with the exception of the short and stout humerus. The carpometacarpsus in the Messel specimens shows similar proportions to modern swifts, but with different osteological details. For instance, the pisiform process does not create a trough that receives the tendons of
232-445: A single year the common swift can cover at least 200,000 km, and in a lifetime, about two million kilometers. The wingtip bones of swiftlets are of proportionately greater length than those of most other birds. Changing the angle between the bones of the wingtips and forelimbs allows swifts to alter the shape and area of their wings to increase their efficiency and maneuverability at various speeds. They share with their relatives
261-570: Is glued to a vertical surface with saliva, and the genus Aerodramus use only that substance, which is the basis for bird's nest soup . Other swifts select holes and small cavities in walls. The eggs hatch after 19 to 23 days, and the young leave the nest after a further six to eight weeks. Both parents assist in raising the young. Swifts as a family have smaller egg clutches and much longer and more variable incubation and fledging times than passerines with similarly sized eggs, resembling tubenoses in these developmental factors. Young birds reach
290-442: Is much more similar to treeswifts and hummingbirds as well as other perching birds than to true swifts. It is thought that the relatively reduced hindlimbs of swifts are linked to their highly aerial lifestyle, while the relative elongation of the tarsometatarsus is an adaptation to taking on a vertical position while roosting. The shortened toes and curved claws with strong flexing musculature would also aid in this behavior. Members of
319-632: Is only present in some specimens and not others. In adult modern swifts, the caudal margin of the sternum does not show such an incision, they are however present in subadults. The tarsometatarsus (lower leg) of Scaniacypselus is highly reduced but bears more resemblance to treeswifts. Although the legs of modern swifts are highly reduced, the tarsometatarsus in these species is proportionally much longer and more slender than in Scaniacypselus . The feet are described as anisodactyl, meaning that three toes face forward while one faces back. The proximal parts of
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#1732894508089348-458: Is produced during the downstroke. This flight arrangement might benefit the bird's control and maneuverability in the air. The swiftlets or cave swiftlets have developed a form of echolocation for navigating through dark cave systems where they roost. One species, the Three-toed swiftlet , has recently been found to use this navigation at night outside its cave roost too. Swifts occur on all
377-623: Is typically caught in flight using the beak. Some species, like the chimney swift , hunt in mixed species flocks with other aerial insectivores such as members of Hirundinidae (swallows) . No swift species has become extinct since 1600, but BirdLife International has assessed the Guam swiftlet as endangered and lists the Atiu , dark-rumped , Seychelles , and Tahiti swiftlets as vulnerable ; twelve other species are near threatened or lack sufficient data for classification. The hardened saliva nests of
406-432: The Eocene , at the end of which the extant families were present; fossil genera are known from all over temperate Europe, between today's Denmark and France, such as the primitive swift-like Scaniacypselus (Early–Middle Eocene) and the more modern Procypseloides (Late Eocene/Early Oligocene – Early Miocene ). A prehistoric genus sometimes assigned to the swifts, Primapus (Early Eocene of England), might also be
435-516: The Latin name of the region the type species was found in combined with "Cypselus" , an old name of the common swift . The species name of Scaniacypselus wardi honors J.D. Ward who discovered the original fossil. The type species, S. wardi , was noted to have had a short and stout humerus similar to modern swifts. The ulna was likewise relatively short and stout, however still more slender than what can be observed in extant forms. The proximal end of
464-641: The Røsnæs Clay in Denmark. The type and only known specimen of S. wardi is an almost complete left wing. The second species, Scaniacypselus szarskii , was originally described as a species of Aegialornis by Peters in 1985 from the sediments of the Messel Pit in Germany. The species was referred to Scaniacypselus in 2001 by Mayr and Peters on the basis of an additional specimen. Isolated bones of S. szarksii are also known from Quercy , France. The name derives from
493-465: The edible-nest swiftlet and the black-nest swiftlet have been used in Chinese cooking for over 400 years, most often as bird's nest soup . Over-harvesting of this expensive delicacy has led to a decline in the numbers of these swiftlets, especially as the nests are also thought to have health benefits and aphrodisiac properties. Most nests are built during the breeding season by the male swiftlet over
522-404: The hummingbirds a special ability to rotate their wings from the base, allowing the wing to remain rigid and fully extended and derive power on both the upstroke and downstroke. The downstroke produces both lift and thrust, while the upstroke produces a negative thrust (drag) that is 60% of the thrust generated during the downstrokes, but simultaneously it contributes lift that is also 60% of what
551-511: The phalanges are not shortened and the tips of the toes are not strongly curved. Additionally, the attachment point for the muscle that flexes the toes is not as well developed as in crown-swifts. Wing shape is already indicated to have been relatively short by the osteology, which is confirmed by specimens preserving soft tissue such as feathers. These specimens show that the wings of Scaniacypselus weren't as long and narrow as in modern swifts of similar size. The tail feathers of Scaniacypselus
580-406: The continents except Antarctica, but not in the far north, in large deserts, or on many oceanic islands. The swifts of temperate regions are strongly migratory and winter in the tropics. Some species can survive short periods of cold weather by entering torpor , a state similar to hibernation. Many have a characteristic shape, with a short forked tail and very long swept-back wings that resemble
609-440: The finger-flexing musculature. Additionally, the process internus indicis is only weakly developed. In modern birds a strongly developed process correlates with narrow and elongated wings, which in turn suggests relatively short wings for Scaniacypselus . The sternum is shorter and broader proportionally, with some specimens showing an incision into its rear end. The nature of this incision is however not entirely understood, as it
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#1732894508089638-448: The genus Apus mark somewhat of a departure of those adaptations, their tarsometatarsus reducing in length likely due to the fact that out of all swift species they are the most aerial, rendering the adaptations for vertical roosting less significant (although the bone is still proportionally longer than in Scaniacypselus ). The less derived anatomy of the legs together with the less specialised wings indicate that Scaniacypselus lived
667-406: The genus apart from modern swifts. The crus dorsale fossae of the humerus is reduced and pneumatic fossae are missing in the fossils. Although this was first described in specimens from Messel, the same anatomy was also subsequently also recognized in fossils from France as well as the S. wardi holotype from Denmark. Scaniacypselus szarskii also differs notably in the proportions of the wings, with
696-675: The hummingbird family (Trochilidae) in the same order as the swifts and treeswifts (and no other birds); the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy treated this group as a superorder in which the swift order was called Trochiliformes. The taxonomy of the swifts is complicated, with genus and species boundaries widely disputed, especially amongst the swiftlets . Analysis of behavior and vocalizations is complicated by common parallel evolution , while analyses of different morphological traits and of various DNA sequences have yielded equivocal and partly contradictory results. The Apodiformes diversified during
725-515: The order Apodiformes along with hummingbirds . The treeswifts are closely related to the true swifts, but form a separate family, the Hemiprocnidae. Resemblances between swifts and swallows are due to convergent evolution , reflecting similar life styles based on catching insects in flight. The family name, Apodidae, is derived from the Greek ἄπους ( ápous ), meaning "footless", a reference to
754-567: The small, weak legs of these most aerial of birds. The tradition of depicting swifts without feet continued into the Middle Ages, as seen in the heraldic martlet . Taxonomists have long classified swifts and treeswifts as relatives of the hummingbirds , a judgment corroborated by the discovery of the Jungornithidae (apparently swift-like hummingbird-relatives) and of primitive hummingbirds such as Eurotrochilus . Traditional taxonomies place
783-449: The taxon is much less specialised than modern swifts. While true swifts are highly aerial animals that spend most their lifes in the air, Scaniacypselus lived a much less airborne life. However their feeding range was likely much more extensive than that of the modern treeswifts, which are limited to hunting grounds close to the forest canopy. The feet of the bird also give clues to its lifestyle. In its hindlimb proportions Scaniacypselus
812-512: The ulna has a stronger cranial curvature to it and the olecranon is again shortened. The radius was not preserved in the holotype . The carpometacarpus generally resembled that of modern swifts, but with a more tapering os metacarpale majus. Although the type species is known from a single specimen, the second species, S. szarskii , is known from a multitude of individuals preserving not only skeletal elements but also soft tissue impressions. These specimens show several features clearly setting
841-399: Was only lightly forked. When first described researchers noted that the taxon shares several key characteristics with crown group swifts, consequently placing it in the subfamily Apodinae . The discovery of multiple additional specimens of S. szarskii however highlighted previously unknown features that set it apart from crown-group swifts. Mayr subsequently recovers Scaniacypselus not as
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