Ciconia fossil map
Where fossils of Ciconia have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 0 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 0 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Prehistoric birds |
|---|---|
| Lived | 23.04 million years ago to the present (Aquitanian to Holocene) |
| Periods | Neogene, Quaternary |
| Family | Ciconiidae |
| Named by | Brisson 1760 |
| Fossil records | 36 occurrences at 33 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | United States, France, South Africa, China, United Kingdom, Mexico, Greece, Italy, Argentina, Cuba |
| Rock formations | txn:39634, Caloosahatchee, Okeechobee, Varswater, Yorktown, Pungo River |
About Ciconia
Ciconia ( sih-KOH-nee-uh; Classical Latin: [kiˈkoː.ni.a]) is a genus of birds in the stork family. Six of the seven living species occur in the Old World, but the maguari stork has a South American range. In addition, fossils suggest that Ciconia storks were somewhat more common in the tropical Americas in prehistoric times.
The genus was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the white stork (Ciconia ciconia) as the type species. The genus name is the Latin word for "stork", and was originally recorded in the works of Horace and Ovid.
The Abdim's stork is the smallest of the family, but other species in the genus are generally medium-sized storks, with long legs and a long thick bill. The members of this genus are more variable in plumage than other stork genera, but all species are black (at least to the wings) and white (at least underparts or neck). Juveniles are a duller, browner version of the adult.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Ciconia (revision 1379256791), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q6471715.
