# Proardea

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Proardea
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Proardea.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proardea
> Source revision: 1319900296
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Extinct genus of birds}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = [Late Eocene](/source/Late_Eocene)? - [Late Oligocene](/source/Late_Oligocene)
| image = Proardea amissa.png
| image_caption = Holotype [tarsometatarsus](/source/tarsometatarsus) of ''Proardea amissa''
| taxon = Proardea
| authority = [Lambrecht](/source/K%C3%A1lm%C3%A1n_Lambrecht), 1933
| type_species = ''Proardea amissa''
| type_species_authority = ([Milne-Edwards](/source/Alphonse_Milne-Edwards), 1892)
| subdivision_ranks = Other species
| subdivision = ''Proardea? deschutteri'' <small>[Mayr](/source/Gerald_Mayr), ''et al.'', 2019<ref>{{Cite journal|author1=Gerald Mayr |author2=Vanesa L. De Pietri |author3=R. Paul Scofield |author4=Thierry Smith |year=2019 |title=A fossil heron from the early Oligocene of Belgium – the earliest temporally well-constrained record of the Ardeidae |journal=Ibis |volume=161 |pages=79–90 |doi=10.1111/ibi.12600 |doi-access=free }}</ref></small>
| synonyms = ''Ardea amissa''<br/><small>Milne-Edwards, 1892{{Verify source|date=November 2007}}<!-- 1891? --></small><br/>
''Egretta amissa''<br/><small>Mlíkovský & Švec 1989</small><br/>
and see article text
}}

'''''Proardea''''' is an [extinct](/source/extinct) [genus](/source/genus) of [heron](/source/heron), containing two [species](/source/species), '''''Proardea amissa''''' ("lost proto-heron") and '''''Proardea? deschutteri''''' from the [Borgloon Formation](/source/Borgloon_Formation) of [Belgium](/source/Belgium). It stood about 70&nbsp;cm (2&nbsp;ft 4&nbsp;in) tall and was very similar to a modern [heron](/source/heron) in shape. The species is known from rather fragmentary [fossil](/source/fossil)s in the area of [Quercy](/source/Quercy), [France](/source/France); dated remains are from [Pech Desse](/source/Pech_Desse), a Late [Oligocene](/source/Oligocene) locality, but the original fossil, a single right [tarsometatarsus](/source/tarsometatarsus) ([MNHN](/source/MNHN) QU-15720), isn't precisely dated<ref name=Mlikovsky_2002/> and may have come from deposits as early as Late [Eocene](/source/Eocene) in age.{{cn|date=November 2025}}

alt=Holotype tarsometatarsus of Proardea deschutteri|left|thumb|Holotype tarsometatarsus of ''Proardea? deschutteri''.
''Proardea'' was apparently closely related to the true herons and egrets (Ardeinae). As these genera are only known from the [Miocene](/source/Miocene) onwards, ''Proardea'' possibly was a direct ancestor of today's herons and/or egrets. However, the Miocene genus ''[Proardeola](/source/Proardeola)'' is closely related, or perhaps even synonymous, with ''Proardea''; the former's single species ''Proardeola walkeri'' may thus be ''Proardea walkeri'' or even identical with ''P. amissa''. The bird described as ''[Ardea aurelianensis](/source/Ardea_aurelianensis)'' may also be identical with ''P. amissa'', which would in that case become known as ''Proardea aurelianensis''. Supposed other species of ''Proardea'', ''P. perplexa'' and ''P. similis'', are synonyms of the [ibis](/source/ibis) ''[Geronticus perplexus](/source/Geronticus_perplexus)'' and the [phasianid](/source/Phasianidae) ''[Miogallus altus](/source/Miogallus_altus)'', respectively.<ref name="Mlikovsky_2002" />

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=Mlikovsky_2002>{{cite book
 |author       = Mlíkovský, Jirí
 |title        = Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe
 |url          = http://www.nm.cz/download/JML-18-2002-CBE.pdf
 |publisher    = Ninox Press
 |place        = Praha
 |year         = 2002
 |pages        = 68, 94, 157
 |oclc         = 156629447
 |access-date  = 2006-07-26
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110520101755/http://www.nm.cz/download/JML-18-2002-CBE.pdf
 |archive-date = 2011-05-20
 |url-status   = dead
}} The ISBN printed in the document (80-901105-3-8) is invalid, causing a checksum error.</ref>
}}

== Further reading ==
* Lambrecht, Kálmán (1933): [Genus ''Proardea''] ''In: Handbuch der Palaeornithologie'': 311. Gebrüder Bornträger, Berlin.
* Milne-Edwards, Alphonse (1892){{Verify source|date=November 2007}}<!-- 1891? -->: Sur les oiseaux fossiles des dépots éocènes de phosphate de chaux du Sud de la France. ''In'': Sclater, P.L. (ed.), ''Comptes Rendus du Second Congrès Ornithologique International'': 60–80. Budapest.
* {{cite book
 |author       = Mlíkovský, Jirí
 |title        = Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe
 |url          = http://www.nm.cz/download/JML-18-2002-CBE.pdf
 |publisher    = Ninox Press
 |place        = Praha
 |year         = 2002
 |pages        = 68, 94, 157
 |oclc         = 156629447
 |access-date  = 2006-07-26
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110520101755/http://www.nm.cz/download/JML-18-2002-CBE.pdf
 |archive-date = 2011-05-20
 |url-status   = dead
}} The ISBN printed in the document (80-901105-3-8) is invalid, causing a checksum error.<!-- This should be treated with extreme caution as regards merging of species. Splits are usually good though. See also critical review in Auk121:623-627 here http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3793/is_200404/ai_n9396879 -->

{{Pelecaniformes genera|A.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q7246835}}

Category:Ardeidae
Category:Herons
Category:Bird genera
<!-- due to possibly extension into Eocene -->
Category:Fossils of Belgium
Category:Fossils of France
Category:Taxa named by Kálmán Lambrecht
Category:Oligocene birds of Europe

{{paleo-bird-stub}}
{{Pelecaniformes-stub}}

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Proardea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proardea) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proardea?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.