PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Gavia

Reptilia - Gaviidae

Taxonomy

Gavia was named by Forster (1788). It is extant. Its type is Colymbus immer. It is the type genus of Gaviidae.

It was assigned to Podicipedidae by Lambrecht (1933); to Gaviinae by Wetmore (1940), Wetmore (1956), Storer (1956) and Chandler (1990); to Gaviiformes by Brodkorb (1955) and Varricchio (2002); and to Gaviidae by Hay (1930), Wetmore (1943), Miller and Bowman (1958), Howard (1972), Howard (1978), Howard (1982), Carroll (1988), Guthrie (1992), Parmalee (1992), Olson and Rasmussen (2001), Mlikovsky (2002), del Hoyo et al. (2014), Clements et al. (2017), Hastings and Dooley (2017) and Watanabe et al. (2020).

Species

G. adamsii, G. arctica, G. brodkorbi, G. concinna (syn. G. palaeodytes), G. egeriana, G. fortis, G. howardae, G. immer, G. moldavica, G. pacifica, G. paradoxa, G. pusilla, G. schultzi, G. stellata

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1788	Gavia Forster
1930	Gavia Hay p. 284
1933	Gavia Lambrecht p. 263
1940	Gavia Wetmore p. 6
1943	Gavia Wetmore p. 64
1955	Gavia Brodkorb p. 4
1956	Gavia Storer p. 425
1956	Gavia Wetmore p. 7
1958	Gavia Miller and Bowman p. 4
1972	Gavia Howard p. 3
1978	Gavia Howard p. 486
1982	Gavia Howard p. 3
1988	Gavia Carroll
1990	Gavia Chandler p. 85
1992	Gavia Guthrie p. 320
1992	Gavia Parmalee p. 309
2001	Gavia Olson and Rasmussen p. 241
2002	Gavia Mlikovsky p. 63
2002	Gavia Varricchio
2014	Gavia del Hoyo et al.
2017	Gavia Clements et al.
2017	Gavia Hastings and Dooley p. 83
2020	Gavia Watanabe et al. p. 5

Is something missing? Join the Paleobiology Database and enter the data

Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	Osteichthyes	()
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
—	Sauropsida
class	Reptilia
subclass	Eureptilia	()
—	Romeriida
—	Diapsida	()
—	Archosauromorpha	(Huene 1946)

Rank	Name	Author
—	Crocopoda
—	Archosauriformes	Gauthier 1986
—	Eucrocopoda
—	Archosauria	()
informal	Avemetatarsalia
—	Ornithodira
—	Dinosauromorpha
—	Dinosauriformes
—	Dinosauria	()
—	Theropoda	()
—	Neotheropoda
—	Averostra	Paul 2002
—	Tetanurae
—	Coelurosauria	()
—	Maniraptora
—	Paraves
class	Aves
subclass	Neornithes	Gadow 1893
—	Aequornithes
—	Gaviiformes	(Wetmore and Miller 1926)
family	Gaviidae	Allen 1897
genus	Gavia	Forster 1788

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. Gavia Forster 1788

show all | hide all

Gavia adamsii Gray 1859 [Yellow-billed loon]

Gavia arctica Linnaeus 1758 [Arctic loon]

†Gavia brodkorbi Howard 1978

†Gavia concinna Wetmore 1940

hide

Invalid names: Gavia palaeodytes Wetmore 1943 [synonym]

†Gavia egeriana Svec 1982

†Gavia fortis Olson and Rasmussen 2001

†Gavia howardae Brodkorb 1953

Gavia immer Brunnich 1764 [Common loon]

†Gavia moldavica Kessler 1984

Gavia pacifica Lawrence 1858 [Pacific loon]

†Gavia paradoxa Umans'ka 1981

†Gavia pusilla Shufeldt 1915

†Gavia schultzi Mlíkovský 1998

Gavia stellata Pontoppidan 1763 [Red-throated loon]

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

hydroxyapatiteo

Entire body:

yeso

Adult length:

10 to < 100o

Adult width:

1.0 to < 10o

Adult height:

1.0 to < 10o

Architecture:

compact or denseo

Ontogeny:

accretion, modification of partso

Grouping:

solitaryo

Environment:

terrestrialo

Locomotion:

actively mobileo

Life habit:

ground dwellingo

Diet:

carnivoresubo

Reproduction:

oviparouso

Dispersal:

direct/internalo

Dispersal 2:

mobileo

Created:

2009-01-03 20:39:15

Modified:

2009-01-03 22:39:15

Source: subo = suborder, o = order

References: Benton 1983, Marsh 1875

Age range

Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Orellan to the top of the Holocene or 33.90000 to 0.00000 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 33.3 Ma

Collections (91 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Orellan	33.9 - 33.3	USA (Wyoming)	G. pusilla (17134)
Aquitanian - Langhian	23.03 - 13.82	USA (North Carolina)	G. egeriana (48887)
Burdigalian	20.44 - 15.97	USA (Delaware)	G. sp. (18579)
Burdigalian - Serravallian	20.44 - 11.62	USA (Maryland)	G. sp. (125137)
Serravallian	13.82 - 11.62	USA (Virginia)	G. sp. (57700)
Tortonian	11.62 - 7.246	USA (Florida)	G. concinna, G. palaeodytes (122350 122351)
Tortonian	11.62 - 7.246	USA (California)	G. brodkorbi (13300) G. sp. (50069)
Late/Upper Miocene	11.608 - 5.333	Ukraine	G. paradoxa (39816)
Zanclean	5.333 - 3.6	USA (California)	G. concinna (125338)
Zanclean	5.333 - 3.6	USA (North Carolina)	G. howardae, G. concinna, G. fortis (52582)
Blancan	4.9 - 1.8	USA (California)	G. howardae (178011 178015 178021 178163) G. sp. (178167) G. sp., G. howardae (178016)
Piacenzian	3.6 - 2.588	USA (California)	G. concinna (13451) G. howardae (46067) G. howardae, G. concinna (19703) G. sp. (52218)
Gelasian	2.588 - 1.806	USA (Florida)	G. pacifica (20384)
Early/Lower Pleistocene	2.588 - 0.781	Taiwan (Chiayi)	G. sp., G. stellata (232679)
Pleistocene	2.588 - 0.0117	USA (Virginia)	G. sp. (104663)
Pleistocene	2.588 - 0.0117	USA (California)	G. immer (176093)
Pleistocene	2.588 - 0.0117	USA (Maryland)	G. immer (82256)
Irvingtonian	1.8 - 0.3	USA (Florida)	G. concinna (20334 20400)
Middle Pleistocene	0.774 - 0.129	USA (California)	G. immer, G. arctica (20639)
Middle Pleistocene	0.774 - 0.129	Japan (Chiba)	G. stellata (56359)
Rancholabrean	0.3 - 0.012	USA (California)	G. immer (84881)
Rancholabrean (glacial)	0.3 - 0.012	USA (California)	G. immer, G. arctica, G. stellata (20624)
Rancholabrean - Holocene	0.3 - 0.0	USA (California)	G. pacifica (84904)
Late/Upper Pleistocene	0.129 - 0.0117	Japan (Aomori)	G. stellata (101898)
Late/Upper Pleistocene	0.129 - 0.0117	Spain	G. sp. (215694)
Late/Upper Pleistocene (interglacial)	0.129 - 0.0117	USA (California)	G. sp. (20585 20644 20646)
Late/Upper Pleistocene (late glacial)	0.129 - 0.0117	USA (Florida)	G. immer (154722)
Late/Upper Pleistocene (interglacial)	0.129 - 0.0117	USA (Florida)	G. immer (20636)
Late/Upper Pleistocene	0.129 - 0.0117	USA (California)	G. arctica (20273 120829 125234 125236) G. immer (59063 176102 215552) G. pacifica (120827 125237) G. sp. (190889)
Late/Upper Pleistocene (interglacial)	0.129 - 0.0117	USA (Alabama)	G. immer (84181)
Late/Upper Pleistocene - Holocene	0.129 - 0.0	Russian Federation	G. sp. (194812)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	USA (Florida)	G. immer (122303 195050)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Canada (Quebec)	G. immer (224189)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Canada (Yukon)	G. arctica, G. adamsii (228443)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Russian Federation	G. arctica, G. stellata (194810)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Canada (Northwest Territories)	G. arctica (228444) G. immer, G. arctica, G. stellata (228921)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Ukraine	G. arctica (215547)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	USA (California)	G. immer (194909) G. immer, G. stellata (194905 194908) G. sp. (194913) G. sp., G. immer, G. stellata (194906 194912 194914 194927 194928) G. sp., G. stellata (194926) G. stellata (194880 194907)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Canada (Nunavut)	G. adamsii (229489) G. arctica (228896) G. sp. (228898) G. stellata (160848 229484)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	USA (Alaska)	G. arctica, G. stellata (220460)
Holocene	0.0117 - 0.0	Finland	G. arctica (209145) G. sp. (209130 209133 209134 209135 209136 209150 209157 209160 209161 209164) G. stellata (209159)