Calcardea junnei Gingerich, 1987 is not a heron (1 Viewer)

Gerald Mayr, Philip D. Gingerich and Thierry Smith, 2019

Calcardea junnei Gingerich, 1987 from the late Paleocene of North America is not a heron, but resembles the early Eocene Indian taxon Vastanavis Mayr et al., 2007

Journal of Paleontology in press

Abstract: https://www.cambridge.org/core/jour...r-et-al-2007/48BF042ED51624CED9A0A806EDCD203A

We revisit the holotype of Calcardea junnei Gingerich, 1987 from the latest Paleocene (Clarkforkian) of the Willwood Formation (Wyoming, USA). The species is based on a partial skeleton and was originally assigned to the Ardeidae (herons). As we show, this classification cannot be upheld and Calcardea Gingerich, 1987 more closely resembles the taxon Vastanavis Mayr et al., 2007 (Vastanavidae), a parrot-like bird from the early Eocene of India. Even though C. junnei is a large bird, its long wings and short tarsometatarsus argue against a predominantly terrestrial way of living, and the morphology of the tarsometatarsus and pedal phalanges instead suggest strong grasping feet. We conclude that an assignment of Calcardea to the landbird clade (Telluraves) is better supported than its classification into the waterbird clade (Aequornithes), which includes Ardeidae and other ‘ciconiiform’ and ‘pelecaniform’ taxa. Calcardea junnei is one of the oldest known representatives of Telluraves and its morphology shows plesiomorphic features, which contributed to its previous misidentification as a heron. Calcardea exhibits a distinctive osteology and affords a glimpse of a previously unknown late Paleocene avian morphotype.

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Fred

I don't have this paper (yet), but here is the Original discription of Calcardea junnei by Philip D. Gingerich:

Fred

Systematic paleontology

Aves Linnaeus, 1758
?Telluraves sensu Yuri et al., 2013
Calcardea Gingerich, 1987
Type species.—Calcardea junnei Gingerich, 1987, by Original designation, monotypic.

Calcardea junnei Gingerich, 1987

Holotype.—UM 76882: partial skeleton including two cervical vertebrae (one nearly complete, the other consisting of a caudal fragment), a thoracic vertebra, a caudal vertebra*, a partial synsacrum*, a right coracoid lacking the midsection of the shaft and small portions of both ends, the damaged omal extremity of the left coracoid, the fragmentary extremitas cranialis of the right scapula, a cranial fragment of the sternum, the caput humeri and proximal section of the shaft of the left humerus, a fragment of the caput humeri and the cranioventral section of the distal end of the right humerus, the fragmentary proximal end of a ?left radius*, a portion of the distal section of the shaft of the right tibiotarsus*, fragments of both tarsometatarsi, two pedal phalanges, as well as other unidentifiable fragments. (Asterisks mark bones identified for the first time in the present study.)

Occurrence.—Head of Big Sand Coulee, Clarks Fork Basin, limestone lens J of University of Michigan locality SC-29 (discovery site), Park County, Wyoming, USA (Gingerich, 1987). Latest Paleocene, Clarkforkian North American Land Mammal Age, subzone Cf-3; 56.2–55.8 Myr (Secord et al., 2006; Manz and Bloch, 2015).

References:

Manz, C.L., and Bloch, J.I., 2015, Systematics and phylogeny of Paleocene-Eocene Nyctitheriidae (Mammalia, Eulipotyphla?) with description of a new species from the late Paleocene of the Clarks Fork Basin, Wyoming, USA: Journal of Mammalian Evolution, v. 22, p. 307–342, doi:10.1007/s10914-014-9284-3.

Secord, R., Gingerich, P.D., Smith, M.E., Clyde, W.C., Wilf, P., and Singer, B.S., 2006, Geochronology and mammalian biostratigraphy of middle and upper Paleocene continental strata, Bighorn Basin, Wyoming: American Journal of Science, v. 306, p. 211–245, doi:10.2475/ajs.306.4.211.

Yuri, T., Kimball, R.T., Harshman, J., Bowie, R.C.K., Braun, M.J., Chojnowski, J.L., Han, K.-L., Hackett, S.J., Huddleston, C.-J., Moore, W.-S., Reddy, S., Sheldon, F.H., Steadman, D.W., Witt, C.C., and Braun, E.L., 2013,
Parsimony and model-based analyses of indels in avian nuclear genes reveal congruent and incongruent phylogenetic signals: Biology, v. 2, p. 419–444, doi:10.3390/biology2010419 (Free pdf https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4009869/pdf/biology-02-00419.pdf).

Fred