Spatula praeclypeata sp. nov. (1 Viewer)

[Fred Ruhe]

Nikita V. Zelenkov, 2022

The Fossil Stone Shelduck (Tadorna petrina) and a Shoveler (Spatula praeclypeata sp. nov.)-The Oldest Early Pleistocene Ducks (Aves: Anatidae) from Crimea

Paleontological Journal. 56 (6): 92–104. (Russian edition)

Abstract: https://www.elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=49546707

Based on materials from the Taurida Cave (central part of the Crimean Peninsula, 1.9–1.5 Ma), the oldest remains of anseriform birds for the Early Pleistocene of Northern Black Sea area are described. A fragmentary skeleton of a shelduck (Tadornini) is attributed to the fossil Stone Shelduck Tadorna petrina Kurochkin, 1985, originally described from the Upper Pliocene of Transbaikalia and morphologically close to modern Ruddy Shelducks T. ferruginea. This is the oldest find of the Ruddy Shelducks phylogenetic lineage in Europe, shedding light on the paleobiogeographical distribution and evolution of the group in the Late Cenozoic. Tadorna petrina is considered as the most likely stem member of the clade, which includes the modern species T. ferruginea, T. cana, T. tadornoides, and T. variegata. The migration of representatives of this group to Australia was apparently associated with the existence of the savannah belt in the Early–Middle Pleistocene in Southeast Asia. A new fossil Shoveler Spatula praeclypeata sp. nov. from Taurida Cave is the oldest find of this lineage in the fossil record and is considered as a stem taxon of the living species S. smithii, S. rhynchotis, and S. clypeata. The faunistic association of the Ruddy Shelduck and a shoveler is characteristic of many Middle and Late Pleistocene avifaunas of Europe; Crimean finds testify in favor of its more ancient and, probably, eastern origin.

Remark: I will come back on this paper when the English edition is published.

Enjoy,

Fred

 

[Fred Ruhe]

Nikita V. Zelenkov, 2022

Fossil Stone Shelduck (Tadorna petrina) and Shoveler (Spatula praeclypeata sp. nov.)-The Oldest Early Pleistocene Ducks (Aves: Anatidae) from Crimea

Paleontological Journal. 56 (6): 682–692 (English edition)

SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY

Order Anseriformes
Family Anatidae Leach, 1820
Genus Tadorna Boie, 1822
Tadorna petrina Kurochkin, 1985

Holotype PIN, no. 2975/2, fragmentary sternum; Beregovaya locality, Republic of Buryatia, Russia; Chikoi Formation, Upper Pliocene.

Material. Fragmentary disarticulated skeleton: specimen PIN, no. 5644/221, complete right ulna; 5644/222, proximal fragment of the left ulna; 5644/223, distal fragment of the right radius; 5644/212, cranial fragment of the synsacrum with iliac bones; 5644/229, fragmentary right pelvis; 5644/230, fragmentary synsacrum; 5644/224, complete left femur; 5644/225, proximal fragment of the left tibiotarsus; 5644/226, distal fragment of the right tibiotarsus; 5644/227, complete right tarsometatarsus; 5644/228, complete left tarsometatarsus; 5644/213, basal phalanx of the third toe: Taurida Cave; environs of the village of Zuya, Belogorsk raion, Crimea; bone layer (BL) (see Oksinenko and Lavrov, 2021), Late Villafranchian, Calabrian, Lower Pleistocene.

Fred



Fig. 1. Elements of the wing of Tadorna petrina Kurochkin, 1985 in comparison with the ulnae of modern representatives of the genus Tadorna (ulnae are scaled by the size of the proximal articular surface to illustrate the proportional shortening of the bone in the fossil species): (a), (d), (g), (h) Tadorna petrina Kurochkin, 1985, Lower Pleistocene of the Taurida Cave (Crimea): (a), (d) specimen PIN, no. 5644/221, right ulna; (g), (h) specimen PIN, no. 5644/223, distal fragment of the left radius; (b), (e) Tadorna ferruginea (Pallas, 1764), modern; (c), (f) Tadorna tadorna (Linnaeus, 1758), modern; (a)–(c), (h) ventral view; (d)–(f) cranial view; (g) dorsal view. Notations: ol, olecranon; tc, tuberculum carpale. Scale bar, 1 cm.

Fig. 2. Tadorna petrina Kurochkin, 1985 in comparison with the modern and fossil representatives of the genus Tadorna: (a), (e), (f), (g), (k), (l), (m), (r), (t), (v) Tadorna petrina Kurochkin, 1985, Lower Pleistocene of the Taurida Cave (Crimea): (a), (e), (f), (g) specimen PIN, no. 5644/227, right tarsometatarsus; (k) specimen PIN, no. 5644/226, distal fragment of the left tibiotarsus; (l), (m), (r) specimen PIN, no. 5644/224, left femur; (t) specimen PIN, no. 5644/209, fragment of the left pelvis; (v) specimen PIN, no. 5644/230, fragment of the synsacrum; (b), (h), , (q) Tadorna ferruginea (Pallas, 1764), modern: (b), (h) tarsometatarsus; (q) femur; (c), (i), (o), (s) Tadorna tadorna (Linnaeus, 1758), modern: (c), (i) tarsometatarsus; (o), (s) femur; (d), (j) Tadorna tadorna (Linnaeus, 1758), specimen PIN, 2613/53, tarsometatarsus; Chernousov Log locality, Republic of Khakassia, Russia, Middle Holocene; (p) Tadorna tadornoides (Jardine et Selby, 1828), modern, femur; (a)–(d) dorsal view; (e) plantar view; (f), (q)–(s) medial view; (g)–(j) proximal view; (k), (l) cranial view; (m)–(p) caudal view; (t) lateral view. Notations: bh, base of the hypotarsus; em, epicondylus medialis; f, nutrient foramen; fa, facet in the distal part of the crista supracondylaris medialis; lh, lateral groove of the hypotarsus; tub, tuberocity in the proximolateral part of the tarsometatarsus shaft. Scale bar, 1 cm.

 

[Fred Ruhe]

Genus Spatula Boie, 1822

Spatula praeclypeata Zelenkov, sp. nov.

Etymology. From the Latin clypeata (the specific name of the modern Common Shoveler).

Holotype. PIN, no. 5644/220, right coracoid; Taurida Cave location; environs of the village of Zuya, Belogorsk district, Crimea; bone layer (BL) (see Oksinenko and Lavrov, 2021), Late Villafranchian, Calabrian, Lower Pleistocene.

Comparison. The species differs from S. clypeata, widely represented in Eurasia from the Middle Pleistocene to the present, in a noticeably smaller and laterally shifted cotyla scapularis, as well as in the convex mediocaudal margin of the processus procoracoideus and a distinctly curved impressio lig. acrocoracohumeralis. In S. clypeata, the cotyla scapularis
is noticeably larger and occupies a significant part of the shaft in dorsal view; in S. clypeata, the impressio lig. acrocoracohumeralis is usually straight or somewhat curved, but without a pronounced bend, characteristic of S. praeclypeata.

Material. Holotype only.

Fred


Fig. 3. Coracoid of Spatula praeclypeata sp. nov. and selected modern Anatidae: (a), (b), (j) Spatula clypeata (Linnaeus, 1758),
modern; (c), (f)–(i) Spatula praeclypeata sp. nov., holotype PIN, no. 5644/220; Taurida Cave, Crimea; Calabrian, Lower Pleistocene; (d) Mareca penelope (Linnaeus, 1758), modern; (e) Aythya fuligula (Linnaeus, 1758), modern; (a)–(e) dorsal view;
(f) ventral view; (g) lateral view; (h) dorsomedial view; (i), (j) view from the cranioventral side of the processus acrocoracoideus. Notations: ca, crista acrocoracoidea; cs, cotyla scapularis; dep, depression in the dorsal part of sulcus m. supracoracoidei; fac, facies articularis clavicularis; ila, impressio lig. acrocoracohumeralis; pp, processus procoracoideus. Scale bar, 1 cm.