 The study describing "Protodontopteryx" notes some "striking" similarities between the jaw structure of Ichthyornithes and pelagornithids.The study still classifies pelagornithids as neognaths based on a few post-cranial features and recovers them in a polytomy with Galloanserae and Neoaves, but does note that this link is worth investigating and that the pelagornithid palate is not known.Ichthyornitheans were close to the ancestry of modern birds, the crown group Aves, but represents an independent lineage of toothed seabird-like animals.