AN UNUSUAL AVIAN CORACOID FROM THE PALEOGENE QUERCY FISSURE FILLINGS IN FRANCE

Gérald Mayr (1) , Cécile Mourer-Chauviré (2)

1 Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Sektion Ornithologie, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt a. M
2 PEPS - PaleoEnvironnements et PaleobioSphere

We report on an avian coracoid from the Quercy fissure fillings, in France, now recognized to belong to a Middle Eocene to Upper Oligocene sequence. It shares characteristic derived features with the corresponding bone of modern Psophiidae (Trumpeters), most notably a medial crest along the wide shaft and pneumatic openings on the extremitas sternalis. If assignment to trumpeters can be confirmed by future material, the specimen would be the first fossil record of trumpeters and a further example of a characteristic South American taxon, of which stem lineage representatives occurred in the Paleogene of Europe.

Mots clés: Paleobiogeography

Mots clés: Fossil bird; Quercy; Eocene-Oligocene; Grues; Psophiidae ?; Paleobiogeography.

Domaines: Paléontologie

Gérald Mayr, Cécile Mourer-Chauviré. AN UNUSUAL AVIAN CORACOID FROM THE PALEOGENE QUERCY FISSURE FILLINGS IN FRANCE. Strata. Série 1 : Communications, 2006, 13 (série 1), pp.129-133. ⟨hal-00153040⟩