Fred Ruhe
Well-known member
Gerald Mayr & Paul Scofield, 2014
First diagnosable non-sphenisciform bird from the early Paleocene of New Zealand
Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand latest articles.
Abstract:
A new avian taxon from the early Paleocene Waipara Greensand in Canterbury, New Zealand, is described. The holotype of Australornis lovei, gen. et sp. nov. includes wing and pectoral girdle bones, which exhibit distinctive morphologies. Notable features are a very long crista deltopectoralis, a craniocaudally flattened shaft, and a large tuberculum dorsale of the humerus, as well as a ridge-like caudal surface of the proximal ulna. Although a well-founded assignment of the new species to any of the extant higher-level taxa is not possible, key morphological features of stem group Sphenisciformes (penguins) are absent in A. lovei. Other than penguins, the holotype of A. lovei represents one of the most significant records of a marine Paleocene bird from the Southern Hemisphere, and contributes to the emerging view that Neoaves were already diversified in the earliest Paleogene.
Some additional information:
A fossil of one of the world's oldest flying seabirds has been found in New Zealand, linking the country to Antarctica when it was still being formed, scientists announced Wednesday. The bones of the new species, found in green sand deposits in North Canterbury on the South Island, dated from the Paleocene age, about 58 million years ago, according to scientists from Canterbury Museum and Germany's Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum. The species had been named Australornis lovei after amateur fossil collector Leigh Love, who discovered it in the deposits where the world's oldest penguin, Waimanu, was found. Australornis appeared to be most similar to two species described from the late Cretaceous period (around 70 million years ago) of the Antarctic Peninsula and highlighted the links between Antarctica and New Zealand in the late Cretaceous and early Paleocene periods. "This new species is important in our understanding of bird evolution because although there are a number of bird groups described from the late Cretaceous, most belong to groups not present on earth today," Paul Scofield of Canterbury Museum said in a statement.
Fred Ruhe
First diagnosable non-sphenisciform bird from the early Paleocene of New Zealand
Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand latest articles.
Abstract:
A new avian taxon from the early Paleocene Waipara Greensand in Canterbury, New Zealand, is described. The holotype of Australornis lovei, gen. et sp. nov. includes wing and pectoral girdle bones, which exhibit distinctive morphologies. Notable features are a very long crista deltopectoralis, a craniocaudally flattened shaft, and a large tuberculum dorsale of the humerus, as well as a ridge-like caudal surface of the proximal ulna. Although a well-founded assignment of the new species to any of the extant higher-level taxa is not possible, key morphological features of stem group Sphenisciformes (penguins) are absent in A. lovei. Other than penguins, the holotype of A. lovei represents one of the most significant records of a marine Paleocene bird from the Southern Hemisphere, and contributes to the emerging view that Neoaves were already diversified in the earliest Paleogene.
Some additional information:
A fossil of one of the world's oldest flying seabirds has been found in New Zealand, linking the country to Antarctica when it was still being formed, scientists announced Wednesday. The bones of the new species, found in green sand deposits in North Canterbury on the South Island, dated from the Paleocene age, about 58 million years ago, according to scientists from Canterbury Museum and Germany's Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum. The species had been named Australornis lovei after amateur fossil collector Leigh Love, who discovered it in the deposits where the world's oldest penguin, Waimanu, was found. Australornis appeared to be most similar to two species described from the late Cretaceous period (around 70 million years ago) of the Antarctic Peninsula and highlighted the links between Antarctica and New Zealand in the late Cretaceous and early Paleocene periods. "This new species is important in our understanding of bird evolution because although there are a number of bird groups described from the late Cretaceous, most belong to groups not present on earth today," Paul Scofield of Canterbury Museum said in a statement.
Fred Ruhe
