Editing Grebe (section)

===Fossil record===
[[File:Boletín de la Sociedad Ibérica de Ciencias Naturales (1921) (19765729204).jpg|thumb|Reconstructed skeleton of fossil slab of ''[[Thiornis]] sociata'', an early grebe]] 
The [[fossil record]] of grebes is incomplete as there are no transitional forms between more conventional birds and grebes known from fossils. The enigmatic waterbird [[genus]] ''[[Juncitarsus]]'', however, may be close to a common ancestor of flamingos and grebes. The extinct stem-flamingo family [[Palaelodidae]] have been suggested to be the transitional linkage between the filter-feeding flamingos and the foot-propelled diving grebes. The evidence for this comes from the overall similarity between the foot and limb structure of grebes and palaeloids, suggesting the latter family of waterbirds were able to swim and dive better than flamingos. Some early grebes share similar characteristics to the coracoid and humerus seen in palaeloids.<ref name=Gottingen>{{cite journal |last=Mayr |first=Gerald |title=The contribution of fossils to the reconstruction of the higher-level phylogeny of birds |journal=Species, Phylogeny and Evolution |issn=1098-660X |volume=3 |pages=59–64 |year=2006 |url=http://www.senckenberg.de/files/content/forschung/abteilung/terrzool/ornithologie/gottingen.pdf |access-date=10 January 2023 |archive-date=11 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411211540/http://www.senckenberg.de/files/content/forschung/abteilung/terrzool/ornithologie/gottingen.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Mayr2009">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_TB72RBLLMC&pg=PA110|title=Paleogene Fossil Birds|last=Mayr|first=Gerald|date=2009|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-540-89628-9|access-date=2022-12-21|archive-date=2023-03-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318224043/https://books.google.com/books?id=P_TB72RBLLMC&pg=PA110|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Rp|105–109}}<ref name="Zelenkov2015">{{cite journal |last1 = Zelenkov | first1= N. V. |year= 2015 |title= A Primitive Grebe (Aves, Podicipedidae) from the Miocene of Eastern Siberia (Lake Baikal, Olkhon Island). |journal=Paleontological Journal |volume=49 |issue=5 |pages=521–529| doi= 10.1134/S0031030115050159 | bibcode= 2015PalJ...49..521Z | s2cid= 130057204 }}</ref>

True grebes suddenly appear in the fossil record in the Late [[Oligocene]] or Early [[Miocene]], around 23–25&nbsp;[[mya (unit)|mya]]. There are a few prehistoric genera that are now completely extinct. ''[[Thiornis]]''<ref name=AnnPal86>{{cite journal |last1=Storer |first1=Robert W. |title=The systematic position of the Miocene grebe Thiornis sociata Navás |journal=Annales de Paléontologie |date=April 2000 |volume=86 |issue=2 |pages=129–139 |doi=10.1016/S0753-3969(00)80003-8 |bibcode=2000AnPal..86..129S }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cracraft |first1=Joel |title=Systematics and evolution of the Gruiformes (class Aves). 3, Phylogeny of the suborder Grues |journal=Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History |date=1973 |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=1–127 |hdl=2246/597 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> and ''[[Pliolymbus]]''<ref name=Murray67>{{cite journal |last1=Murray |first1=Bertram G. |title=Grebes from the Late Pliocene of North America |journal=The Condor |date=May 1967 |volume=69 |issue=3 |pages=277–288 |doi=10.2307/1366317 |jstor=1366317 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Alvarez |first1=R. |title=A Pleistocene Avifauna from Jalisco, Mexico |journal=Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology |publisher=University of Michigan |date=1977 |volume=24 |issue=19 |pages=205–220 |hdl=2027.42/48486 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> date from a time when most if not all extant genera were already present.<ref name=AnnPal86/> Because grebes are evolutionarily isolated and they only started to appear in the Northern Hemisphere fossil record in the Early Miocene, they are likely to have originated in the Southern Hemisphere.<ref name="Mlíkovský2010">{{cite book |last1=Mlíkovský |first1=Jiří |year=2010 |chapter=A preliminary review of the grebes, family Podicipedidae |pages=125–131 |chapter-url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/59129969 |editor1-last=Wells |editor1-first=David |title=Systematic Notes on Asian Birds 2010 |publisher=British Ornithologists' Club |isbn=978-0-9522886-5-7 |oclc=1231997761 |access-date=2022-10-23 |archive-date=2022-10-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221023014301/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/59129969 |url-status=live }}</ref>

* Genus ''[[Aechmophorus]]'' <small>Coues, 1862</small>
** †''[[Aechmophorus elasson]]'' <small>Murray, 1967</small> ([[Piacenzian]] stage of western United States)
* Genus †''[[Hunucornis]]'' <small>Agnolín et al., 2025</small>
** †''[[Hunucornis|Hunucornis huayanen]]'' <small>Agnolín et al., 2025</small> ([[Messinian]] stage of central Argentina)<ref name=Hunucornis>{{Cite journal|last1=Agnolín |first1=F. L. |last2=Álvarez Herrera |first2=G. |last3=Rozadilla |first3=S. |last4=Contreras |first4=V. |year=2025 |title=First late Miocene bird assemblage from central Argentina, with the description of new taxa |journal=Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology |doi=10.1080/08912963.2025.2475538 }}</ref>
* Genus †''[[Miobaptus]]'' <small>Švec, 1982</small>
** †''[[Miobaptus|Miobaptus huzhiricus]]'' <small>Zelenkov, 2015</small> ([[Burdigalian]] to the [[Langhian]] ages of East Siberia)
** †''[[Miobaptus|Miobaptus walteri]]'' <small>Švec, 1982</small> [''Podiceps walteri'' <small>(Švec, 1984) Mlíkovský, 2000</small>] ([[Aquitanian (stage)|Aquitanian]] age of Europe)
* Genus †''[[Miodytes]]'' <small>Dimitreijevich, Gál & Kessler, 2002</small>
** †''[[Miodytes|Miodytes serbicus]]'' <small>Dimitreijevich, Gál & Kessler, 2002</small> (Langhian age of Serbia)
* Genus †''[[Pliolymbus]]'' <small>Murray, 1967</small> [''Piliolymbus'' (sic)]
** †''[[Pliolymbus|Pliolymbus baryosteus]]'' <small>Murray, 1967</small> (Piacenzian to the [[Gelasian]] stages of western United States and Mexico)
* Genus ''[[Podiceps]]'' <small>Latham 1787</small>
** †''[[Podiceps arndti]]'' <small>Chandler, 1990</small> (Piacenzian stage of North America)
** †''[[Podiceps csarnotanus]]'' <small>Kessler, 2009</small> (Piacenzian stage of Europe)
** †''[[Podiceps discors]]'' <small>Murray, 1967</small> (Piacenzian stage of North America)
** †''[[Podiceps dixi]]'' <small>Brodkorp, 1963</small> ([[Chibanian]] to the [[Late Pleistocene|Tarantian]] stages of Florida, United States)
** †''[[Podiceps howardae]]'' <small>Storer, 2001</small> ([[Zanclean]] age of North Carolina, United States)
** †''[[Podiceps miocenicus]]'' <small>Kessler, 1984</small> ([[Tortonian]] age of Moldova)
** †''[[Podiceps oligoceanus]]'' <small>(Shufeldt, 1915)</small> (Aquitanian age of North America)
** †''[[Podiceps parvus]]'' <small>(Shufeldt, 1913)</small> (Gelasian to the [[Calabrian (stage)|Calabrian]] stages of North America)
** †''[[Podiceps pisanus]]'' <small>(Portis, 1888)</small>  (Piacenzian stage of Italy)
** †''[[Podiceps solidus]]'' <small>Kuročkin, 1985</small> (Zanclean age of Western Mongolia)
** †''[[Podiceps subparvus]]'' <small>(Miller & Bowman, 1958)</small> 
* Genus ''[[Podilymbus]]'' <small>Lesson 1831</small>
** †''[[Podilymbus majusculus]]'' <small>Murray 1967</small> (Piacenzian stage of Idaho, United States)
** †''[[Podilymbus wetmorei]]'' <small>Storer 1976</small> (Chibanian to the Tarantian stages of Florida, United States)
* Genus †''[[Thiornis]]'' <small>Navás, 1922</small>
** †''[[Thiornis|Thiornis sociata]]'' <small>Navás, 1922</small> [''Podiceps sociatus'' <small>(Navás, 1922) Olson, 1995</small>] (Tortonian age of Spain)

A few more recent grebe fossils could not be assigned to modern or prehistoric genera:
*Podicipedidae gen. et sp. indet. (San Diego Late Pliocene of California) – formerly included in ''Podiceps parvus''<ref name=Murray67/>
*Podicipedidae gen. et sp. indet. UMMP 49592, 52261, 51848, 52276, KUVP 4484 (Late Pliocene of WC USA)<ref name=Jehl67>{{cite journal |last1=Jehl |first1=Joseph R. |title=Pleistocene Birds from Fossil Lake, Oregon |journal=The Condor |date=January 1967 |volume=69 |issue=1 |pages=24–27 |doi=10.2307/1366369 |jstor=1366369 }}</ref>
*Podicipedidae gen. et sp. indet. (Glenns Ferry Late Pliocene/Early Pleistocene of Idaho, USA)<ref name=Jehl67/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Wetmore|first=Alexander |year=1933|title=Pliocene bird remains from Idaho|journal=Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections|volume=87|pages=1–12|url=https://archive.org/details/cbarchive_36794_pliocenebirdremainsfromidaho1862}}</ref>
*Podicipedidae gen. et sp. indet. UMMP 74784 (Middle Miocene of Nevada)<ref name="Ksepkaetal2013"/>