Protopelicanus

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Protopelicanus cuvierii is a possible ancient waterbird from the Late Eocene with uncertain relationships to other birds.

Discovery and naming
- Georges Cuvier briefly described and pictured the fossils in 1822 from Montmartre, France.
- In 1852, Ludwig Reichenbach formally named it as an early pelecanid.

Fossils
- The known material includes the cranial part of a left scapula and a nearly complete left femur.
- The lectotype femur is housed at the Muséum national d’histoire naturelle in Paris (no. 7978); the location of the scapular fragment is unknown.

Debates about its identity
- 1970: Michel Brunet suggested the femur looked typical of a pelican.
- 1979: Colin Harrison argued the bone might belong to the Sulidae (boobies and gannets).
- 1995: Storrs Olson proposed it could be a pelagornithid, an extinct type of giant seabird.
- Because the evidence is limited, its exact relationships remain unclear.