Fred Ruhe
Well-known member
Thomas A. Stidham in press
Re-description and phylogenetic assessment of the Late Miocene ducks Aythya shihuibas and Anas sp. (Aves: Anseriformes) from Lufeng, Yunnan, China
Abstract: http://www.ivpp.cas.cn/cbw/gjzdwxb/pressonline/201509/t20150916_4425778.html
In 1985, Hou Lianhai published a short paper on some of the bird specimens from the Miocene hominoid fossil locality of Lufeng in Yunnan, and in that paper, he named one species of duck (Aythya shihuibas) and described a second specimen as a member of Anas. Assessment of the phylogenetic characters preserved in those two anatid specimens, in combination with their currently known distribution, confirms that two different species (from different phylogenetic lineages) are present in the Lufeng avifauna, as originally published. The presence of the primitive state of a highly pneumatic cavity with bony struts in the ventral pneumotricipital fossa in A. shihuibas differs from nearly all living species in Aythya and helps to establish that it is a distinct extinct species likely outside the crown group of Aythya. The more fragmentary Lufeng anatid specimen, originally called Anas sp., cannot be as accurately constrained phylogenetically. It is likely a member of Anatinae and perhaps could be called Anas, although the species of that genus are not monophyletic. The Lufeng Anas specimen may be closely related to one of the unnamed species placed in Anas from the Mio-Pliocene of Mongolia because they share an uncommon combination of characters.
Key words Lufeng, Yunnan, Late Miocene, Aves, Duck, Aythya, Anas
Have fun,
Fred
Re-description and phylogenetic assessment of the Late Miocene ducks Aythya shihuibas and Anas sp. (Aves: Anseriformes) from Lufeng, Yunnan, China
Abstract: http://www.ivpp.cas.cn/cbw/gjzdwxb/pressonline/201509/t20150916_4425778.html
In 1985, Hou Lianhai published a short paper on some of the bird specimens from the Miocene hominoid fossil locality of Lufeng in Yunnan, and in that paper, he named one species of duck (Aythya shihuibas) and described a second specimen as a member of Anas. Assessment of the phylogenetic characters preserved in those two anatid specimens, in combination with their currently known distribution, confirms that two different species (from different phylogenetic lineages) are present in the Lufeng avifauna, as originally published. The presence of the primitive state of a highly pneumatic cavity with bony struts in the ventral pneumotricipital fossa in A. shihuibas differs from nearly all living species in Aythya and helps to establish that it is a distinct extinct species likely outside the crown group of Aythya. The more fragmentary Lufeng anatid specimen, originally called Anas sp., cannot be as accurately constrained phylogenetically. It is likely a member of Anatinae and perhaps could be called Anas, although the species of that genus are not monophyletic. The Lufeng Anas specimen may be closely related to one of the unnamed species placed in Anas from the Mio-Pliocene of Mongolia because they share an uncommon combination of characters.
Key words Lufeng, Yunnan, Late Miocene, Aves, Duck, Aythya, Anas
Have fun,
Fred
