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Conflicto antarcticus gen. et sp. nov. (1 Viewer)

Fred Ruhe

Well-known member
Netherlands
Claudia P. Tambussi, Federico J. Degrange, Ricardo S. De Mendoza, Emilia Sferco & Sergrio Santillana, 2019.

A stem anseriform from the early Palaeocene of Antarctica provides new key evidence in the early evolution of waterfowl

Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. in press. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zly085

No abstract available yet.

The authirs describe Conflicto antarcticus gen. et sp. nov.

When I know more on the paper I will inform you.

Enjoy

Fred.
 
Etymology of genus name:

Derivation of name: Conflicto , from the Latin conflictus (contradiction, masculine in gender), owing to the controversial systematic position of the taxon.
 
Abstract: https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean...innean/zly085/5281199?redirectedFrom=fulltext

A new Anseriformes, Conflicto antarcticus gen. et sp. nov., represented by associated bones of a single individual, from the early Palaeocene of Antarctica is described. The new taxon is unlike any other known member of the order. Conflicto antarcticus is a medium-sized (2 kg) stem anseriform. The forelimb and pectoral girdle bones suggest that it was a flying bird, and the bones of the hindlimb show that it had elongated legs. The os quadratum represents a unique combination of features; some are similar to the features of the ancestral quadrate for galloanserines and some are similar to Anseriformes, but features such as the presence of three foramina are exclusive among Neornithes. The incisura or foramen nervi suracoracoidei is absent in C. antarcticus, as in most anatids and all Galliformes. Phylogenetic analysis shows that C. antarcticus + Anatalavis oxfordi is the most basal stem Anseriformes clade. This implies that the duck-type beak must have developed at an early stage of anseriform evolution. Conflicto antarcticus represents one (and possibly the most) substantial record of a non-marine Palaeocene bird from the Southern Hemisphere and supports the hypothesis that Neognathae had already diversified in the earliest Palaeocene.

Fred
 
Etymology of genus name:

Derivation of name: Conflicto , from the Latin conflictus (contradiction, masculine in gender), owing to the controversial systematic position of the taxon.

Hi Melanie,

Where did you find this Etymology, I think you are right, but the paper is not published yet?

Fred
 
Hi Melanie,

Where did you find this Etymology, I think you are right, but the paper is not published yet?

Fred

The paper is published before including in a volume (Production in Progress). Therefor that I have access to OUP I was able to download this paper.
 
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This morning I received this paper and so I am nowe able to give some more details.

SYSTEMATIC PALAEONTOLOGY

Aves Linnaeus, 1758
Neognathae Pycraft, 1900
Galloanseres Sibley & Ahlquist, 1990
Order Anseriformes (Wagler, 1831)
Incertae familiae
Conflicto gen. nov.

Derivation of name: Conflicto, from the Latin conflictus (contradiction, masculine in gender), owing to the controversial systematic position of the taxon.

Type species: Conflicto antarcticus sp. nov.

Included species: Type species only.

Locality and age: López de Bertodano Formation towards the south of Seymour Island, close to Punta Pingüino on the Weddel Sea, Antarctica.

Conflicto antarcticus sp. nov.
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:F39B7797-D2F8-49AA-B912-59887F2ACA1D

Holotype: MLP 07-III-1-1, a three-dimensionally preserved, partly complete skeleton, including cranium, both mandibular rami, ten vertebrae, a portion of the sternum, the cranial portion of the right coracoid, furcula, distal left humerus, proximal end of right humerus, both carpometacarpi, wing phalanx, left femur, left tibiotarsus lacking the proximal end, pelvis, synsacrum and ribs and five tracheal rings, including the pessulus. Housed at La Plata Museum (MLP).

Derivation of name: Relative to the geographical area of origin, Antarctica.

Type locality and stratigraphy: The holotype was collected in Seymour Island at GPS 64°18′3.6″S, 56°44′19.2″W, from level 10 of Montes et al. (2012a, b) in the López de Bertodano Formation, lower Palaeocene (Danian, ~66–61 Myr) in age.

This is an important paper not only because it describes a new genus and species, but also because it gives us a new understanding of the early evolution of the Anseriformes.

This is what the authors write:

"We are convinced that the systematic position of C. antarcticus reached here will be debated strongly, but this exceptional fossil will surely be the basis of further investigations on the evolution of modern birds."

Fred
 

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I have some problems with the nomenclature used in this paper:

Anatalavis oxfordi Olson, 1999 is the second species named in the genus Anatalavis Olson et Parris, 1987. The type species of Anatalavis Olson et Parris, 1987 is Telmatornis rex Shufeldt, 1915. The type species of Telmatornis Marsh, 1870 is Telmatornis priscus Marsh, 1870. (by subsequent designation by Hay, 1902.). Olson and Parris kept these species in the “Form Family” Graculavidae in the Order Charadriiformes.
When in 1999 Olson described Anatalavis oxfordi he transferred the genus Anatalavis Olson et Parris, 1987 to the Anseriformes, Anseranatidae P. L. Sclater, 1880 and named a new subfamily Anatalavinae Olson, 1999 in the Anseranatidae.

Now Tambussi et al transfer Anatalavis oxfordi to their Incertae familiae, as the sister taxon to Conflicto antarcticus (see the tree above). They do not mention Anatalavis rex (Shufeldt, 1915) so the question is: is only Anatalavis oxfordi transferred or the complete genus Anatalavis.
In my opinion, If only Anatalavis oxfordi is transferred, then it needs a new genus name as it is not the type species of the genus. Fortunately, such a new name is available: Nettapterornis Mlíkovský, 2002, but unfortunately the 2002 work by Mlíkovský is largely ignored by the paleornithological world (see Mourer-Chauviré, 2004). Or, If the complete genus is transferred, the name can stand, but then we have another problem: what to do with Anatalavinae Olson, 1999? Can it be promoted to a full family Anatalavidae for the clade including the genera Anatalavis and Conflicto instead of the Incertae familiae?

Of course I asked these questions to Claudia Tambussi but her answer was unsatisfactory to me:
“dear Sir,
thank you for your interest. your doubts about the different Anatalavis species can not be answered by now. In the work on Conflicto, the focus was on solving another problem.”

Fred

References:

Jíří Mlíkovský, 2002
Cenozoic Birds of the World Part 1: Europe
Praha Ninox Press, 2002: 1-407
http://www2.nrm.se/ve/birds/sape/Gl...likovski 2002 Cenozoic birds of the world.pdf

Cécile Mourer-Chauviré, 2004
Review of Jíří Mlikowsky (2002). Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe
The Auk 121: 623-627
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232681410_Cenozoic_Birds_of_the_World_Part_1_Europe

Storrs Lovejoy Olson, 1999
The Anseriform Relationship of Anatalavis Olson and Parris (Anseranatidae), with a New Species from the Lower Eocene London Clay
in: Avian Paleontology at the Close of the 20th Century: Proceedings of the 4th International Meeting of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution, Washington, D.C., 4-7 June 1996
Storrs Lovejoy Olson editor
Peter Wellnhofer, Cécile Mourer-Chauviré, David William Steadman, and Larry Dean Martin Associate Editors
Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology 89: 231-243
https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/2005?show=full

Storrs Lovejoy Olson & David C. Parris, 1987
The Createous Birds of New Jersey
Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology • Number 63
Smithsonian Institution Press, City of Washington
https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/1985/SCtP-0063-Lo_res.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y
 
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