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Sandcoleid mousebirds (1 Viewer)

Fred Ruhe

Well-known member
Netherlands
Gerald Mayr, 2018

New data on the anatomy and palaeobiology of sandcoleid mousebirds (Aves, Coliiformes) from the early Eocene of Messel

Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, in press

Abstract https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12549-018-0328-1

The Sandcoleidae are stem group representatives of the Coliiformes (mousebirds). These birds are among the most abundant medium-sized arboreal birds in some early and middle Eocene fossil sites of Europe and North America, and they are particularly well represented in the German locality Messel. Here, new sandcoleid fossils from Messel are reported. Most of these are tentatively assigned to Eoglaucidium pallas, which is the only named European sandcoleid species, but one specimen is likely to represent a new, unnamed species. Another fossil exhibits exceptionally well-preserved feather remains, which show that the tail of sandcoleids was not as greatly elongated and stiffened as that of extant mousebirds (Coliidae). It is hypothesised that these differences in the tail morphology of sandcoleids and coliids may have been due to changes in the habitual perching posture, which occurred early in the evolutionary history of the Coliidae.

Enjoy,

Fred
 
Smf-me 11622a+b

The specimen likely to represent a new, unnamed species is Eoglaucidium? sp. indet. A: SMF-ME 11622A+B (complete skeleton on two slabs.
Gerald Mayr writes: "Most likely, SMF-ME 11622 represents a species different from Eoglaucidium pallas Fischer, 1987, but most bones of the fossil are taphonomically deformed and do not exhibit a good preservation. The osteological data available from the specimen are not sufficient for a definitive classification, and its tentative assignment to Eoglaucidium is based on overall similarity."

Here is a picture of SMF-ME 11622A.

Fred
 

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