An annotated checklist of the fossil birds of Australia (1 Viewer)

[RSN]

Trevor H. Worthy & Jacqueline M. T. Nguyen

An annotated checklist of the fossil birds of Australia

Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia
Volume 144, 2020 - Issue 1
https://doi.org/10.1080/03721426.2020.1756560

Abstract

A complete annotated checklist of all species of birds based on fossil material known as of 2019 from continental Australia is presented. Taxa range from Cretaceous to Holocene in age. It includes synonyms with full bibliographic details and specifics of the type material in all cases, such as specimen or locality data, source local fauna and geological age. Nomina based on fossil material that are now synonymised under extant taxa are also included. The list includes 95 avian species, of which 78 are extinct, in 66 genera. Five extinct subspecies in modern genera are recognised. These species represent 33 family- and 19 ordinal-group taxa, or nearly half of modern avian orders.

Full text:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03721426.2020.1756560

 

[Fred Ruhe]

A great paper. At first sight I saw two novelties (for me):

1: Subfamily ERISMATURINAE Eyton, 1838: Stiff-tailed Ducks

The subfamily name for the stiff-tailed ducks, “Oxyurinae Swainson, 1832 [1831]”, is invalid because it does not exist. This name is incorrectly attributed to Swainson (in Swainson & Richardson, 1832), who rejected the validity of the genus name Oxyura Bonaparte, 1828 and placed its type species in the genus Fuligula Stephens, 1824, in the subfamily Fuligulini (see Olson, 1995, p. 544). Furthermore, Oxyurinae Phillips, 1926 is a junior homonym of Oxyuridae Cobbold, 1864, a family of nematode worms (type genus Oxyuris Rudolphi, 1803), and therefore is unavailable (ICZN Article 53.1). Thus, Erismaturinae Eyton, 1838 (Erismatura Bonaparte, 1831 = Oxyura) is the first available name for a group including Oxyura and its allies.

2. Family ACCIPITRIDAE Vigors, 1824: Kites, Eagles, Hawks, and Allies

Genus † NECRASTUR De Vis

Necrastur De Vis, 1892: Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales (series 2) 6(3): 437 – type by monotypy Necrastur alacer De Vis.

Necrastur alacer De Vis

Necrastur alacer De Vis, 1892: Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales (series 2) 6(3): 439, pl. 24, fig. 1A–B – ?Darling Downs, QLD; unknown age. Holotype QM F1136, proximal R humerus. Gaff (2002) observed that this species significantly differed in size and morphology from modern Australian accipitrids.

I had this species as a junior synonym of Falco berigora Vigors et Horsfield, 1827.

Fred

 

[James Jobling]

I agree, Fred. A fascinating paper. For the Key MS my interest is in Pleistocene birds only, but already I have added Latagallina, Garrdimalga, Garrdimalga mcnamarai, Latagallina olsoni, and Centropus bairdi to the list, and I haven't looked at the passerines yet! Well done, Rafael.

 

[Fred Ruhe]

Hi James,

Here are some etymologies of the species you mention above:

Latagallina olsoni Shute, Prideaux et Worthy, 2017:

Latagallina=‘broad hen’ (lata=‘broad’, adjective, Latin; gallina=‘hen’, noun, Latin). The name Latagallina refers to the stout, short-legged build of members of this genus. Gender is feminine.

The species name honours Storrs Olson, of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, who has worked extensively on fossil avifaunas in various parts of the world, including Australia, and who was the first author to note that P. gallinacea and ‘Progura’ naracoortensis could represent species in different genera. We honour him here with a new species in the same genus as the species from Naracoorte.

Garrdimalga mcnamarai Shute, Prideaux et Worthy, 2017:

Garrdimalga, from which the name of the type locality derives, means ‘emu waterhole’ (garrdi, emu; malga, limestone/white waterhole) in the local Narungga (Nharangga) Aboriginal language of the Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. Originally referring to a limestone depression where emus came to drink, the name, written as Curramulka, was later extended to the whole of the nearby township. Pronounced ‘GA-ree-mal-ga’, the ‘-rrd’ of the first syllable is a soft ‘r’, made by the tongue slightly touching the roof of the mouth and forming a slight ‘d’ sound.

The species name, mcnamarai, is in honour of Jim McNamara, formerly of the South Australian Museum, who collected the holotype and referred material of this species from Curramulka Quarry between 1997 and 1999.

Centropus bairdi Shute, Prideaux, & Worthy, 2016

Named in honour of Dr Robert F. Baird, who described Australia’s first extinct species of Centropus in 1985, and who worked extensively on the Quaternary bird fossil record of Australia, including fossil cave faunas in the Nullarbor region.:

Fred

 

[Melanie]

I am missing the parrots in this paper.

 

[Fred Ruhe]

I am missing the parrots in this paper.

There is no fossil record of Parrots in Australia except for Cacatua sp. indet. Boles, 1993 from the Early-Middle Miocene of Queensland, Riversleigh Melopsittacus undulatus (Shaw, 1805) from Pliocene of Queensland, Riversleigh.

The other taxa are all recently extinct modern species and these are not discussed in this paper.

Refs.

Walter Earl Boles, 1993
A New Cockatoo (Psittaciformes: Cacatuidae) from the Tertiary of Riversleigh, Northwestern Queensland. And an Evaluation of Rostral Characters in the Systematics of Parrots
Ibis 135: 8-18

Walter Earl Boles, 1998
A Budgerigar Melopsittacus undulatus from the Pliocene of Riversleigh, North-western Queensland
Emu 98: 32-35

Fred

 

[Fred Ruhe]

Walter Earl Boles, 1993
A New Cockatoo (Psittaciformes: Cacatuidae) from the Tertiary of Riversleigh, Northwestern Queensland. And an Evaluation of Rostral Characters in the Systematics of Parrots
Ibis 135: 8-18

Walter Earl Boles, 1998
A Budgerigar Melopsittacus undulatus from the Pliocene of Riversleigh, North-western Queensland
Emu 98: 32-35

Fred

 

[Fred Ruhe]

News

Outback flamingos, giant penguins on new list of extinct Australian birds

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07...nt-penguins-bird-on-fossil-checklist/12412370

Fred