Microcarbo fossil map
Where fossils of Microcarbo 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 | 5.333 million years ago to the present (Zanclean to Holocene) |
| Periods | Neogene, Quaternary |
| Family | Phalacrocoracidae |
| Named by | (Bonaparte 1856) |
| Fossil records | 12 occurrences at 9 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | South Africa, New Zealand, Madagascar, DR Congo, Mauritius, Egypt, Australia |
| Rock formations | txn:39688, Varswater |
About Microcarbo
Microcarbo is a genus of fish-eating birds, known as cormorants, of the family Phalacrocoracidae. The genus was formerly subsumed within Phalacrocorax.
Microcarbo has been recognized as a valid genus by the IOC's World Bird List on the basis of work by Siegel-Causey (1988), Kennedy et al. (2000), and Christidis and Boles (2008).
As suggested by the name, this genus contains the smallest of the world's cormorants. It is also sister to all other cormorants, having diverged from the rest of the family between 12.8 and 15.4 million years ago.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Microcarbo (revision 1352680606), 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: Q128189.
