Pandion pannonicus

Pandion pannonicus is an extinct species of Pandion that inhabited what is now Hungary during the Chattian stage of the Oligocene epoch. It is one of the earliest representatives of the osprey family Pandionidae along with an undescribed species found in Egypt from the Rupelian stage.^[1]

Pandion pannonicus Temporal range: Chattian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Accipitriformes
Family:	Pandionidae
Genus:	Pandion
Species:	†P. pannonicus
Binomial name
†Pandion pannonicus Kessler, 2018

Taxonomy

The remains of P. pannonicus were discovered at the Mány-Zsámbék basin, situated between Úny and Máriahalom, Hungary. Along with fish, reptiles and mammals, fragmented remains of birds were found, including those of P. pannonicus; these finds are indicative of the site's former aquatic environment during the Oligocene. The material was brought to the Department of Paleontology at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest.

The genus name Pandion derives from Pandíōn Πανδίων, the mythical Greek king of Athens and grandfather of Theseus, Pandion II.^[2] The specific name pannonicus references the location of the species' discovery; the remains were located in what was once the Roman province of Pannonia.

Description

While other fossil species of osprey either surpass or match the present-day osprey in size, the known remains of P. pannonicus indicate a smaller size.