Pelvic elements of the giant bird Gargantuavis from the Upper Cretaceous of Cruzy (southern France), with remarks on pneumatisation

A synsacrum fragment and an incomplete ilium of the giant bird Gargantuavis philoinos are described from the upper Campanian/lower Maastrichtian Montplo-Nord locality at Cruzy (Hérault, southern France). The ilium provides new information about the pelvic morphology of Gargantuavis. Both the synsacrum and ilium are extensively pneumatised. This extensive pneumatisation may be a plesiomorphic feature, but may also have had a weight-reduction function in a large flightless bird.