Ludiortyx is a bird genus from the Late Eocene. Its remains have been found in the Montmartre Formation at the Montmartre (Paris, France). A single species is accepted, Ludiortyx hoffmanni.
This bird is of uncertain relationships; it has been variously considered to be an ancestral rail or to belong to the Quercymegapodiidae, a prehistoric group of Galliformes (landfowl). The material assigned to it were initially considered to be of 2 species, one that was at first believed to be a Tringa wader, the other assigned to the galliform genus Palaeortyx.Mlíkovský (2002) Even the latter assignment was probably much in error as though its relationships are not known, Palaeortyx was probably not a quercymegapodiid.
Synonyms Apart from the genus-level synonym Eortyx, L. hoffmanni has undergone quite a number of name changes due to the confusion about its placement: Tringa hoffmanni Gervais, 1852 Palaeortyx hoffmanni (Gervais, 1852) Palaeortyx blanchardi Milne-Edwards, 1869 Ludiortyx blanchardi (Milne-Edwards, 1869) Eortyx hoffmanni (Gervais, 1852)
Footnotes
References (2002): Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe. Ninox Press, Prague. PDF fulltext