Vanesa L. De Pietri

A Revision of the Lari (Aves, Charadriiformes) from the Early Miocene of Saint-Gérand-Le-Puy (Allier, France)

ABSTRACT Three species of gull-like birds were described by Milne-Edwards in the 19th century from the early Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy, France, two of which have been since then moved to the genus Laricola. These fossils are redescribed and revised in the present study. We further describe two new species of the taxon Laricola, L. intermedia, sp. nov., and L. robusta, sp. nov., as well as two species of a new taxon Sternalara, S. minuta and S. milneedwardsi, thus substantially increasing the number of charadriiform taxa known from this locality. To find out how Laricola relates to modern taxa, we performed a phylogenetic analysis of 41 osteological characters, which resulted in Laricola being placed outside of Lariidae, as early representatives of the newly designated group Laromorphae, which encompasses terns, gulls, and skimmers. The results of our analysis have additionally enabled us to evaluate relationships between extant taxa of the Laromorphae.

The unexpected survival of an ancient lineage of anseriform birds into the Neogene of Australia: the youngest record of Presbyornithidae

Presbyornithids were the dominant birds in Palaeogene lacustrine assemblages, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, but are thought to have disappeared worldwide by the mid-Eocene. Now classified within Anseriformes (screamers, ducks, swans and geese), their relationships have long been obscured by their strange wader-like skeletal morphology. Reassessment of the late Oligocene South Australian material attributed to Wilaru tedfordi, long considered to be of a stone-curlew (Burhinidae, Charadriiformes), reveals that this taxon represents the first record of a presbyornithid in Australia. We also describe the larger Wilaru prideauxi sp. nov. from the early Miocene of South Australia, showing that presbyornithids survived in Australia at least until ca 22 Ma. Unlike on other continents, where presbyornithids were replaced by aquatic crown-group anatids (ducks, swans and geese), species of Wilaru lived alongside these waterfowl in Australia. The morphology of the tarsometatarsus of these species indicates that, contrary to other presbyornithids, they were predominantly terrestrial birds, which probably contributed to their long-term survival in Australia. The morphological similarity between species of Wilaru and the Eocene South American presbyornithid Telmabates antiquus supports our hypothesis of a Gondwanan radiation during the evolutionary history of the Presbyornithidae. Teviornis gobiensis from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia is here also reassessed and confirmed as a presbyornithid. These findings underscore the temporal continuance of Australia’s vertebrates and provide a new context in which the phylogeny and evolutionary history of presbyornithids can be examined.

New skeleton from the early Oligocene of Germany indicates a stem-group position of diomedeoidid birds

We report a new specimen of the extinct procellariiform species Diomedeoides brodkorbi (Aves, Diomedeoididae) from the early Oligocene (Rupelian) of Rheinweiler in southwestern Germany. The well-preserved partial skeleton allows the recognition and reassessment of new osteological details that bear on the phylogenetic affinities of diomedeoidids. The presence on the coracoid of a deeply excavated, cup-like facies articularis for the scapula suggests a stem group position of the Diomedeoididae within Procellariiformes, because this trait also occurs in stem-group representatives of several avian groups, as well as in Mesozoic non-neornithine birds, and is a plesiomorphic character. We hypothesize that the similarities of Diomedeoides to extant southern storm-petrels (Oceanitinae), such as the long mandibular symphysis, the small processus supracondylaris dorsalis and the long legs are plesiomorphic for Procellariiformes.

Wading a lost southern connection: Miocene fossils from New Zealand reveal a new lineage of shorebirds (Charadriiformes) linking Gondwanan avifaunas

An endemic and previously unknown lineage of shorebirds (Charadriiformes: Scolopaci) is described from early Miocene (19–16 Ma) deposits of New Zealand. Hakawai melvillei gen. et sp. nov. represents the first pre-Quaternary record of the clade in New Zealand and offers the earliest evidence of Australasian breeding for any member of the Scolopaci. Hakawai melvillei was a representative of the clade that comprises the South American seedsnipes (Thinocoridae) and the Australian Plains-wanderer (Pedionomidae), and presumed derived features of its postcranial skeleton indicate a sister taxon relationship to Australian pedionomids. Our findings reinforce that terrestrial adaptations in seedsnipes and the Plains-wanderer are convergent as previously proposed, and support an ancestral wading ecology for the clade. Although vicariance events may have contributed to the split between pedionomids and H. melvillei, the proposed sister taxon relationship between these taxa indicates that the split of this lineage from thinocorids must have occurred independently from Australia and Zealandias separation from the rest of Gondwana. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:FD3E50A9-EE95-4660-880A-A60B0DE2CEF4

The origin and phylogenetic relationships of the New Zealand ravens

The relationships of the extinct New Zealand ravens (Corvus spp.) are poorly understood. We sequenced the mitogenomes of the two currently recognised species and found they were sister-taxa to a clade comprising the Australian raven, little raven, and forest raven (C.coronoides, C. mellori and C. tasmanicus respectively). The divergence between the New Zealand ravens and Australian raven clade occurred in the latest Pliocene, which coincides with the onset of glacial deforestation. We also found that the divergence between the two putative New Zealand species C. antipodum and C. moriorum probably occurred in the late Pleistocene making their separation as species untenable. Consequently, we consider Corax antipodum (Forbes, 1893) to be a subspecies of Corvus moriorum Forbes, 1892. We re-examine the osteological evidence that led 19th century researchers to assign the New Zealand taxa to a separate genus, and re-assess these features in light of our new phylogenetic hypotheses. Like previous researchers, we conclude that the morphology of the palate of C. moriorum is unique among the genus Corvus, and suggest this may be an adaptation for a specialist diet.

Next-generation paleornithology: Technological and methodological advances allow new insights into the evolutionary and ecological histories of living birds

ABSTRACT Paleornithology, the study of fossil or ancient bird remains, provides an important context for understanding the biology, evolutionary history, and ecology of living birds. Recent technological and methodological advances in the field of paleornithology have opened up the potential to extract new pools of information from fossil bird remains, and hence provide new insights into the histories of living birds. Here we review some of these advances, covering aspects of ancient DNA and protein analyses, sedimentary proxies for birds, stable isotope analyses, coprolite analyses, high-resolution computed tomography, paleoneurology, finite elements analysis, and paleohistology. These new advances offer exciting prospects for the future of paleornithology, but also reaffirm the importance of basic fieldwork, exploration and the discovery of new fossil specimens, museum archives in which to curate the specimens, and traditional morphological approaches to studying the fossil remains.

A new, large-bodied omnivorous bat (Noctilionoidea: Mystacinidae) reveals lost morphological and ecological diversity since the Miocene in New Zealand

A new genus and species of fossil bat is described from New Zealand’s only pre-Pleistocene Cenozoic terrestrial fauna, the early Miocene St Bathans Fauna of Central Otago, South Island. Bayesian total evidence phylogenetic analysis places this new Southern Hemisphere taxon among the burrowing bats (mystacinids) of New Zealand and Australia, although its lower dentition also resembles Africa’s endemic sucker-footed bats (myzopodids). As the first new bat genus to be added to New Zealand’s fauna in more than 150 years, it provides new insight into the original diversity of chiropterans in Australasia. It also underscores the significant decline in morphological diversity that has taken place in the highly distinctive, semi-terrestrial bat family Mystacinidae since the Miocene. This bat was relatively large, with an estimated body mass of ~40 g, and its dentition suggests it had an omnivorous diet. Its striking dental autapomorphies, including development of a large hypocone, signal a shift of diet compared with other mystacinids, and may provide evidence of an adaptive radiation in feeding strategy in this group of noctilionoid bats.

Recent advances in avian palaeobiology in New Zealand with implications for understanding New Zealand’s geological, climatic and evolutionary histories

ABSTRACT New Zealand, long recognised as a land where birds dominate the terrestrial vertebrate biota, lacked an informative fossil record for the non-marine pre-Pleistocene avifauna until the twenty-first century. Here we review recent research that alters the known diversity of the fossil Paleogene–Neogene birds and our understanding of the origin of New Zealand’s recent or modern biota. Since 2010, there has been a 50% increase in the number of described fossil bird species (now 45) for the pre-Quaternary period. Many represent higher taxa that are new or listed for New Zealand for the first time, including 12 genera (35 total), nine family-level taxa (18 total), and seven ordinal taxa. We also review recent multidisciplinary research integrating DNA and morphological analyses affecting the taxonomic diversity of the Quaternary avifauna and present revised diversity metrics. The Holocene avifauna contained 217 indigenous breeding species (67% endemic) of which 54 (25%) are extinct.

The phylogenetic relationships of the Early Miocene stork Grallavis edwardsi, with comments on the interrelationships of living Ciconiidae (Aves)

The fossil record of storks (Aves, Ciconiidae) includes a relatively large number of specimens from the Middle Eocene onwards, but no taxon is as well represented as Grallavis edwardsi form the Early Miocene of the Allier region in central France. Despite this, the phylogenetic placement of G. edwardsi among other storks has remained elusive not least because of the lack of a robust phylogenetic framework for living storks. To find out how G. edwardsi relates to recent Ciconiidae, we performed a phylogenetic analysis based on osteological features including all living genus‐level taxa of the Ciconiidae. We show that the previously reported similarities to the extant taxa Ephippiorhynchus and Jabiru are based on plesiomorphic features, and our analysis supports a sister group relationship between Grallavis edwardsi and Leptoptilos. Our results are also consistent with a basal divergence within Ciconiidae between Mycteria and Anastomus, which are among the smallest storks, and all other storks. A sister group relationship between storks of the genus Ciconia and all large storks (Leptoptilini) is recovered albeit with weak support, which may be due to homoplastic features linked to their large size. Grallavis edwardsi possessed several osteological adaptations suited for scavenging, and despite lacking some derived traits characteristic of Leptoptilos, it is likely to have been a precursor of large marabou and adjutant storks.

Earliest and first Northern Hemispheric hoatzin fossils substantiate Old World origin of a “Neotropic endemic”

The recent identification of hoatzins (Opisthocomiformes) in the Miocene of Africa showed part of the evolution of these birds, which are now only found in South America, to have taken place outside the Neotropic region. Here, we describe a new fossil species from the late Eocene of France, which constitutes the earliest fossil record of hoatzins and the first one from the Northern Hemisphere. Protoazin parisiensis gen. et sp. nov. is more closely related to South American Opisthocomiformes than the African taxon Namibiavis and substantiates an Old World origin of hoatzins, as well as a relictual distribution of the single extant species. Although recognition of hoatzins in Europe may challenge their presumed transatlantic dispersal, there are still no North American fossils in support of an alternative, Northern Hemispheric, dispersal route. In addition to Opisthocomiformes, other avian taxa are known from the Cenozoic of Europe, the extant representatives of which are only found in South America. Recognition of hoatzins in the early Cenozoic of Europe is of particular significance because Opisthocomiformes have a fossil record in sub-Saharan Africa, which supports the hypothesis that extinction of at least some of these “South American” groups outside the Neotropic region was not primarily due to climatic factors.