 The fossil record shows that the pelican lineage has existed for at least 30 million years; the oldest known pelican fossil was found in Early Oligocene deposits at the Luberon in southeastern France, and is remarkably similar to modern forms.Its beak is almost complete and is morphologically identical to that of present-day pelicans, showing that this advanced feeding apparatus was already in existence at the time.An Early Miocene fossil has been named "Miopelecanus gracilis" on the basis of certain features originally considered unique, but later thought to lie within the range of interspecific variation in "Pelecanus".