Aepyornithiformes: Molecular exploration of fossil eggshell uncovers hidden lineage of giant extinct bird (1 Viewer)

[Fred Ruhe]

Alicia Grealy, Gifford H. Miller, Matthew J. Phillips, Simon J. Clarke, Marilyn Fogel, Diana Patalwala, Paul Rigby, Alysia Hubbard, Beatrice Demarchi, Matthew Collins, Meaghan Mackie, Jorune Sakalauskaite, Josefin Stiller, Julia A. Clarke, Lucas J. Legendre, Kristina Douglass, James Hansford, James Haile & Michael Bunce, 2023
Molecular exploration of fossil eggshell uncovers hidden lineage of giant extinct bird

Nature Communications. 14 (1). 914
doi:10.1038/s41467-023-36405-3

Abstract and free pdf: Molecular exploration of fossil eggshell uncovers hidden lineage of giant extinct bird - Nature Communications

The systematics of Madagascar’s extinct elephant birds remains controversial due to large gaps in the fossil record and poor biomolecular preservation of skeletal specimens. Here, a molecular analysis of 1000-year-old fossil eggshells provides the first description of elephant bird phylogeography and offers insight into the ecology and evolution of these flightless giants. Mitochondrial genomes from across Madagascar reveal genetic variation that is correlated with eggshell morphology, stable isotope composition, and geographic distribution. The elephant bird crown is dated to ca. 30 Mya, when Madagascar is estimated to have become less arid as it moved northward. High levels of between-clade genetic variation support reclassifying Mullerornis into a separate family. Low levels of within-clade genetic variation suggest there were only two elephant bird genera existing in southern Madagascar during the Holocene. However, we find an eggshell collection from Madagascar’s far north that represents a unique lineage of Aepyornis. Furthermore, divergence within Aepyornis coincides with the aridification of Madagascar during the early Pleistocene ca. 1.5 Ma, and is consistent with the fragmentation of populations in the highlands driving diversification and the evolution of extreme gigantism over shorts timescales. We advocate for a revision of their taxonomy that integrates palaeogenomic and palaeoecological perspectives.

Enjoy,

Fred

 

[Melanie]

Vorombe was a very short lived genus. It is now a synonym of Aepyornis maximus. Only three elephant bird species are now left in Madagascar (out of 20 in the 1960s)

 

[Fred Ruhe]

Vorombe was a very short lived genus. It is now a synonym of Aepyornis maximus. Only three elephant bird species are now left in Madagascar (out of 20 in the 1960s)

It is a bit more complicated:

Aepyornis titan Andrews, 1894 has become the type species of the genus Vorombe Hansford et Turvey, 2018. It used to be a synonym of Aepyornis maximus. but Hansford et Turvey, 2018 see it as a good species. Aepyornis maximus Geoffroy-Saint Hilaire, 1851 is stil seen as a good species.

At this moment these are the recognized Aepyornithidae:

Aepyornis maximus Geoffroy-Saint Hilaire, 1851
Aepyornis hildebrandti Burckhardt, 1893

Mullerornis modestus (Milne-Edwards et Grandidier 1869)

Vorombe titan (Andrews, 1894)

According to Alicia Grealy, Gifford H. Miller, Matthew J. Phillips, Simon J. Clarke, Marilyn Fogel, Diana Patalwala, Paul Rigby, Alysia Hubbard, Beatrice Demarchi, Matthew Collins, Meaghan Mackie, Jorune Sakalauskaite, Josefin Stiller, Julia A. Clarke, Lucas J. Legendre, Kristina Douglass, James Hansford, James Haile & Michael Bunce, 2023, "high levels of between-clade genetic variation support reclassifying Mullerornis Milne-Edwards et Grandidier, 1894 into a separate family", Mullerornithidae, but this new family is not described yet.

Fred