Fred Ruhe
Well-known member
Siao-Man Wu, Trevor H. Worthy, Chih-Kai Chuang and Chien-Hsiang Lin, 2023
New Pleistocene bird fossils in Taiwan revealunexpected seabirds in East Asia
Acta Palaeontologica Polonica in press
available online 15 Dec 2023 doi:doi.org/10.4202/app.01091.2023
Abstract and free pdf: New Pleistocene bird fossils in Taiwan reveal unexpected seabirds in East Asia - Acta Palaeontologica Polonica
The island of Taiwan, with its diverse microclimates and key position on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, attracts numerous bird enthusiasts due to its diverse avian fauna. Nevertheless, due to the scarcity of fossil records, there is asignificant knowledge gap between modern and ancient avifaunas in Taiwan. Currently, there is only a single described Pleistocene fossil; it is attributed to Phasianidae. To address this gap, this study describes two new bird fossils, a left humerus and a left tibiotarsus, and discusses them in detail herein. The fossils were collected from the Liuchungchi Formation (Early Pleistocene, 1.95–1.35 Ma) in Niubu, Chiayi, southwestern Taiwan, which represents a neritic environment.The fossils are identified as from species of Gaviidae (loons), with the humerus belonging to an undeterminedspecies of Gavia and the tibiotarsus to Gavia stellata. Loons are seabirds that are primarily distributed in high- andmiddle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. In addition, these birds are extremely rare in modern Taiwan: records arescarce and most are limited to northern and northeastern Taiwan since the 1860s, indicating that the modern Gavia birds only occasionally visit Taiwan. All known Pleistocene fossils of species of Gavia from the northern West Pacific comefrom Japan. The Taiwan fossils of Gavia provide valuable bird evolutionary and paleobiogeographic information for thesubtropical West Pacific and may imply the presence of a distinct avifauna in the region during the Early Pleistocene.
Enjoy,
Fred
New Pleistocene bird fossils in Taiwan revealunexpected seabirds in East Asia
Acta Palaeontologica Polonica in press
available online 15 Dec 2023 doi:doi.org/10.4202/app.01091.2023
Abstract and free pdf: New Pleistocene bird fossils in Taiwan reveal unexpected seabirds in East Asia - Acta Palaeontologica Polonica
The island of Taiwan, with its diverse microclimates and key position on the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, attracts numerous bird enthusiasts due to its diverse avian fauna. Nevertheless, due to the scarcity of fossil records, there is asignificant knowledge gap between modern and ancient avifaunas in Taiwan. Currently, there is only a single described Pleistocene fossil; it is attributed to Phasianidae. To address this gap, this study describes two new bird fossils, a left humerus and a left tibiotarsus, and discusses them in detail herein. The fossils were collected from the Liuchungchi Formation (Early Pleistocene, 1.95–1.35 Ma) in Niubu, Chiayi, southwestern Taiwan, which represents a neritic environment.The fossils are identified as from species of Gaviidae (loons), with the humerus belonging to an undeterminedspecies of Gavia and the tibiotarsus to Gavia stellata. Loons are seabirds that are primarily distributed in high- andmiddle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. In addition, these birds are extremely rare in modern Taiwan: records arescarce and most are limited to northern and northeastern Taiwan since the 1860s, indicating that the modern Gavia birds only occasionally visit Taiwan. All known Pleistocene fossils of species of Gavia from the northern West Pacific comefrom Japan. The Taiwan fossils of Gavia provide valuable bird evolutionary and paleobiogeographic information for thesubtropical West Pacific and may imply the presence of a distinct avifauna in the region during the Early Pleistocene.
Enjoy,
Fred
