A stem turaco (1 Viewer)

[Fred Ruhe]

Daniel J. Field and Allison Y. Hsiang, 2018

A North American stem turaco, and the complex biogeographic history of modern birds

BMC Evolutionary Biology (2018) 18:102

Free pdf https://bmcevolbiol.biomedcentral.com/track/pdf/10.1186/s12862-018-1212-3

Abstract:

Background: Earth’s lower latitudes boast the majority of extant avian species-level and higher-order diversity, with many deeply diverging clades restricted to vestiges of Gondwana. However, palaeontological analyses reveal that many avian crown clades with restricted extant distributions had stem group relatives in very different parts of the world.

Results: Our phylogenetic analyses support the enigmatic fossil bird Foro panarium Olson 1992 from the early Eocene (Wasatchian) of Wyoming as a stem turaco (Neornithes: Pan-Musophagidae), a clade that is presently endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. Our analyses offer the first well-supported evidence for a stem musophagid (and therefore a useful fossil calibration for avian molecular divergence analyses), and reveal surprising new information on the early morphology and biogeography of this clade. Total-clade Musophagidae is identified as a potential participant in dispersal via the recently proposed ‘North American Gateway’ during the Palaeogene, and new biogeographic analyses illustrate the importance of the fossil record in revealing the complex historical biogeography of crown birds across geological timescales.

Conclusions: In the Palaeogene, total-clade Musophagidae was distributed well outside the range of crown Musophagidae in the present day. This observation is consistent with similar biogeographic observations for numerous other modern bird clades, illustrating shortcomings of historical biogeographic analyses that do not incorporate information from the avian fossil record.

Keywords: Biogeography, Palaeontology, Turaco, Musophagidae, Phylogeny, Fossils, Gondwana, Dispersal, Otidimorphae, Macroevolution

Enjoy,

Fred

 

[Fred Ruhe]

Systematics (after Olson, 1992):

Class Aves Linnaeus 1758
Subclass Ornithurae Haeckel1866
Superorder Neognathae Pycraft 1900
Order Cuculiformes Wagler 1830
Family Foratidae new family
Foro new genus
Foro panarium new species (see picture)

Etymology: Dedicated to Pierce Brodkorb, of whose name this is a direct latinization: L. foro, foratus, pierce, bore (cf. perforate, foramen); panarium, breadbasket (ex Brodkorb from German Brot or Brod, bread, and Korb, basket). By analogy with Vireo, also a first-person singular verb, the generic name may be considered masculine in gender. The specific name is a noun in apposition. I would have preferred these names in reverse order but unfortunately Panarium is preoccupied by a genus of Protista (Haeckel, 1882).

HOLOTYPE: Essentially a complete associated skeleton, vertebrate paleontological collections of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution USNM 336261; collected in 1982.

TYPE LOICALITY: "Thompson Quarry ," northwest of Kemmerer, Lincom County, Wyoming: NW1/4, SW1/4, sec. 22, T22N, Rl17W (Kemmerer 15-minute quadrangle); 41°44'N, 110031'W. This is the site indicated in Feldmann et al. (1981:789, fig. 1) and is among the F-2 localities of Grande (1984).

HORIZON: Fossil Butte Member of the Green River Formation, upper Lower Eocene (Wasatchian Land Mammal age).

NEWS:

https://blogs.biomedcentral.com/bmc.../feathered-fruit-eater-frozen-in-fossil-form/

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-44604170

Olson SL. 1992. A new family of primitive landbirds from the lower Eocene Green River formation of Wyoming. In: Campbell KE, editor. Papers in avian paleontology honoring Pierce Brodkorb, vol. vol. 36: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County science series; 1992. p. 127-136.

Free pdf: https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/8418/VZ_243_Foro_panarium.pdf

Fred