Castignovolucris sebei gen. et sp. nov. (1 Viewer)

[Fred Ruhe]

Eric Buffetaut, Delphine Andst & Haiyan Tong, 2023

A new enantiornithine bird from Upper Cretaceous non-marine deposits at Villespassans (Hérault, southern France)

Annales de Paléontologie Volume 109, Issue 1, January–March 2023, 102585
doi:10.1016/j.annpal.2022.102585

Abstract: A new enantiornithine bird from Upper Cretaceous non-marine deposits at Villespassans (Hérault, southern France)

A coracoid of an enantiornithine bird from Upper Cretaceous (probably late Campanian) fluvial sediments at Castigno (Villespassans, Hérault, southern France) is described. It differs from all hitherto reported enantiornithine coracoids and is referred a new genus and species, Castignovolucris sebei. This bone is large and robust, indicating a bird that was among the largest known enantiornithines, possibly the size of a Canada Goose (Branta canadensis). The new taxon is an addition to the short list of Late Cretaceous birds from France and confirms that enantiornithines were an important component of European avifaunas until late in the Cretaceous.

Enjoy,

Fred

 

[Fred Ruhe]

Systematic palaeontology

Class Aves Linnaeus, 1758
Ornithothoraces Chiappe and Calvo, 1994
Enantiornithes Walker, 1981
Castignovolucris n.g.
Castignovolucris sebei n.sp.

Type specimen: right coracoid, Musée de Cruzy, MC-VCZ2-6.

Locus typicus: Castigno valley, Villespassans, Hérault (southern France).

Stratum typicum: continental red clays of the “Grès à Reptiles”Formation, Upper Cretaceous, probably upper Campanian.

Derivatio nominis: genus name from the Castigno valley, wherethe type specimen was discovered, and volucris, Latin for bird.Species name in honour of Mr. Stéphane Sèbe, who discovered andidentified the specimen in the course of excavations at Castigno in 2019.

Diagnosis (for species and genus): a large enantiornithine witha robust coracoid. The taxon differs from other enantiornithinesby the following combination of characters: Caput wide, with abroadly pointed processus acrocoracoideus bearing a proximallyplaced tubercle, and with a very deep and narrow groove betweenthe triangular facies articularis scapularis and the processus acro-coracoideus. Modiolus broad and relatively short, with a D-shapedcross-section and parallel longitudinal grooves on its ventral sur-face. Supracoracoid foramen slit-like, lying in a medial position onthe modiolus and ending distally at the level of the apex of theangulus pterygoma cranialis. Impressio musculi sternocoracoideideeply concave. Lateral wall of the impressio musculi sternoco-racoidei with a well-marked dilatatio caudolateralis. Medial wallthickened dorsally.

Fred


Fig. 1. Type specimen (right coracoid) of Castignovolucris sebei, MC-VCZ2-6, from the Upper Cretaceous red clays of the Castigno valley, Villespassans (Hérault, southernFrance), in medial (A), dorsal (B), lateral (C) and ventral (D) views. Abbreviations: apc: angulus pterygoma cranialis; c: caput; dc: dilatatio caudolateralis; fah: facies artic-ularis humeralis; fas: facies articularis scapularis; ims: impressio musculi supracoracoidei; ins: incisura nervi supracoracoidei; m: modiolus; p: pterygoma; pa: processusacrocoracoideus; s: sulcus; sms: sulcus musculi supracoracoidei; ta: tuberculum acrocoracoideum.