[PaleoOrnithology • 2026] Meterchen luti • A Review of Fossil Goose (Anseriformes: Anserinae) Records from the Miocene St Bathans deposits, New Zealand, with the Description of A New Species

 

 Meterchen luti 

Tennyson, Steell, Lubbe, Adams, Greer, Brown, Wilson, Campbell, Dale & Rawlence, 2026

 

DOI: doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2025.2601236  

  x.com/nic_rawlence_nz

Artwork by Sasha Votyakova

ABSTRACT

The early-middle Miocene deposits of St Bathans, New Zealand, are renowned for their diverse and internationally important avian fossil biota that includes an abundance of fragmentary yet recognisable fossils from the crown bird clade Anseriformes (ducks and geese). We reviewed the taxonomic status of 11 isolated fossil bones previously referred to geese (Anserinae, Anseriformes) from St Bathans. Rigorous reassessment of these specimens using an expanded comparative morphological dataset demonstrated that four specimens can be assigned to the tadornine Miotadorna sanctibathansi and five are probably from a large anatid, potentially the purported anserine Notochen bannockburnensis. A second, slightly smaller, probable anserine is represented by one or possibly two bones, which we name as a new species, Meterchen luti gen. et sp. nov. We did not find any bones that showed a clear affinity with cereopsine anserines, thereby contradicting a previous hypothesis that cereopsines have a long history in Zealandia dating back to at least the early-middle Miocene. Our findings are consistent with current molecular divergence time estimates suggesting that the ancestors of the recently extinct cereopsine Cnemiornis arrived in Zealandia in the late Miocene.

 

KEYWORDS: Altonian, Anseriformes, Bannockburn Formation, Burdigalian, Otago

An artist’s impression of the St Bathans goose Meterchen luti that once lived in New Zealand.

Artwork by Sasha Votyakova/Te Papa Tongarewa, CC BY-NC-SA  

 Meterchen luti gen. et sp. nov. 

Alan J. D. Tennyson, Elizabeth M. Steell, Pascale Lubbe, Amy L. Adams, Liam Greer, Alex H. Brown, Laura J. E. Wilson, Timothy C. Campbell, Tobia C. Dale and  Nicolas J. Rawlence. 2026. A Review of Fossil Goose (Aves: Anserinae) Records from the Miocene St Bathans deposits, New Zealand, with the Description of A New Species. Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. DOI: doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2025.2601236 [17 Feb 2026]

  x.com/nic_rawlence_nz/status/2028221769396691195

[PaleoOrnithology • 2025] Tadorna rekohu • Ancient DNA and Morphometrics reveal A New Species of extinct insular Shelduck (Anatidae: Tadorninae) from Rēkohu Chatham Islands, Aotearoa New Zealand

  Tadorna rekohu 

Rawlence, Lubbe, Adams, Shepherd, Cole, Knapp, Llamas, Wood, Mitchell & Tennyson, 2025

 Rēkohu shelduck  ||  DOI: doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf069

 facebook.com/novataxa 

Artwork by Sasha Votyakova

 

Abstract

The Rēkohu Chatham Islands, 785 km east of mainland Aotearoa New Zealand, exhibit high levels of species endemism. Prior to human settlement, the islands supported a rich waterfowl fauna comprising at least eight anatid species. Here we describe a new extinct duck from Holocene fossil bone deposits on the Chatham Islands. Geometric morphometric analyses and phylogenetic analysis of complete mitogenomes confirm that the Rēkohu shelduck (Tadorna rekohu sp. nov.) was the sister-taxon to the pūtangitangi paradise shelduck Tadorna variegata (Gmelin, 1789) from mainland New Zealand. The ancestors of the Rēkohu shelduck colonized the Chatham Islands around 390 000 years ago during the Late Pleistocene. Comparatively short, robust wing bones and long leg bones indicate that the species was flight-reduced relative to their mainland congener. The presence of Rēkohu shelduck bones in early Moriori midden deposits suggests its extinction was due to over-hunting prior to the later European and Māori settlement of the islands in the 19th century.

dispersal, island evolution, New Zealand, palaeogenetics, Pleistocene, Tadorna

Artistic reconstruction of a female Rēkohu shelduck (Tadorna rekohu) showing the darker plumage common in birds isolated on islands.

Artwork by Sasha Votyakova, © Te Papa CC BY 4.0

Systematic palaeontology

Anseriformes Wagler, 1831

Anatidae Leach, 1819

Tadorninae Reichenbach, 1849

Tadornini Reichenbach, 1849

Tadorna Boie, 1822

Tadorna rekohu Rawlence, Lubbe, Adams, Shepherd, Cole, Knapp, Llamas, Wood, Mitchell, Tennyson sp. nov.

Common name: Rēkohu shelduck

Type locality: Maunganui, Chatham Island.

Etymology: After the Moriori name for the Chatham Islands, New Zealand, where T. rekohu formerly occurred. The name was gifted by the Hokotehi Moriori Trust, who represent the Indigenous people of Rēkohu Chatham Islands.

Diagnosis: A species of Tadorna with different proportions to T. variegata and differing from T. variegata in the following osteological features and allometries:

Cranium: The skull of T. rekohu is longer and has a smaller interorbital width.

Humerus, ulna, radius, and carpometacarpus: The humeri of T. rekohu are on average shorter, with more robust proximal and distal ends. The ulnae and carpometacarpi are on average shorter in T. rekohu, and the proximal radius width is on average larger in T. rekohu.

Humerus to femur ratio: The femur of T. rekohu is longer relative to the humerus total length. The ratio of mean humerus to femur length in T. rekohu ranges from 1.92 to 1.96 (associated skeletons) compared to 2.00–2.11 and 2.02–2.18 in female and male T. variegata, respectively.

Femur and tarsometatarsus: The femora and tarsometatarsi of T. rekohu are longer on average.

Nicolas J Rawlence, Pascale Lubbe, Amy L Adams, Lara D Shepherd, Theresa L Cole , Michael Knapp, Bastien Llamas, Jamie R Wood, Kieren J Mitchell and Alan J D Tennyson. 2025. Ancient DNA and Morphometrics reveal A New Species of extinct insular Shelduck from Rēkohu Chatham Islands. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 204(3); zlaf069. DOI: doi.org/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf069 [25 July 2025]

https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroom/use-it-or-lose-it-how-an-island-changed-a-bird-species

https://www.facebook.com/novataxa/posts/1212144760944449

[PaleoOrnithology • 2024] Chloephaga dabbenei • Pleistocene Record of Chloephaga Eyton, 1838 (Anseriformes: Anatidae) in the Argentine Pampas, with the Description of A New Species

Chloephaga dabbenei 

Agnolín, Álvarez Herrera & Tomassini, 2024

sciencepress.MNHN.fr

 Researchgate.net/publication/381626235

The genus Chloephaga Eyton, 1838, consisting of four species that breed in Patagonia, encompasses anatids endemic to South America. Despite their prominence in the present-day avifauna, these species have left behind a limited fossil record. The aim of the present contribution is to describe Chloephaga fossils coming from Middle Pleistocene levels (San José Sequence) cropping out at Bajo San José site, southwestern Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The specimens are referred to three different taxa, including a new species, Chloephaga dabbenei n. sp., a smaller but indeterminate taxon, which is also probably a new species, and the extant species C. picta (J.F.Gmelin, 1789). The newly described species is notably large, falling within the upper size range observed in males of C. picta. The tarsometatarsus is straight-shafted with poorly divergent distal trochleae, features that are correlated with cursorial habits, that are absent in other members of Chloephaga. The co-occurrence of three species of the genus Chloephaga is registered nowadays in the Argentine Patagonia and in the southeast of Buenos Aires Province, when they migrate during the winter season.

Keywords: Sheldgoose, Tadorninae, fossil diversity, Buenos Aires Province, Quaternary, new species

Chloephaga dabbenei sp. nov.

Federico Lisandro AGNOLÍN, Gerardo P. ÁLVAREZ HERRERA and Rodrigo TOMASSINI. 2024. Pleistocene Record of Chloephaga Eyton, 1838 (Anseriformes: Anatidae) in the Argentine Pampas, with the Description of A New Species. Comptes Rendus Palevol. 23(18); 241-255. DOI: 10.5852/cr-palevol2024v23a18 [21 June 2024]

https://sciencepress.MNHN.fr/en/periodiques/comptes-rendus-palevol/23/18

 Researchgate.net/publication/381626235_Pleistocene_record_of_Chloephaga_in_the_Argentine_Pampas

[PaleoOrnithology • 2024] Paakniwatavis grandei • A new Paleogene fossil and a new dataset for Waterfowl (Aves: Anseriformes) clarify phylogeny, ecological evolution, and Avian Evolution at the K-Pg Boundary

Paakniwatavis grandei 

Musser & Clarke, 2024 

DOI: doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278737

Abstract

Despite making up one of the most ecologically diverse groups of living birds, comprising soaring, diving and giant flightless taxa, the evolutionary relationships and ecological evolution of Anseriformes (waterfowl) remain unresolved. Although Anseriformes have a comparatively rich, global Cretaceous and Paleogene fossil record, morphological datasets for this group that include extinct taxa report conflicting relationships for all known extinct taxa. Correct placement of extinct taxa is necessary to understand whether ancestral anseriform feeding ecology was more terrestrial or one of a set of diverse aquatic ecologies and to better understand avian evolution around the K-T boundary. Here, we present a new morphological dataset for Anseriformes that includes more extant and extinct taxa than any previous anseriform-focused dataset and describe a new anseriform species from the early Eocene Green River Formation of North America. The new taxon has a mediolaterally narrow bill which is rarely found in previously described anseriform fossils. The matrix created to assess the placement of this taxon comprises 41 taxa and 719 discrete morphological characters describing skeletal morphology, musculature, syringeal morphology, ecology, and behavior. We additionally combine the morphological dataset with published sequences using Bayesian methods and perform ancestral state reconstruction for select morphological, ecological and behavioral characters. We recover the new Eocene taxon as the sister taxon to (Anseranatidae+Anatidae) across all analyses, and find that the new taxon represents a novel ecology within known Anseriformes and the Green River taxa. Results provide insight into avian evolution during and following the K-Pg mass extinction and indicate that Anseriformes were likely ancestrally aquatic herbivores with rhamphothecal lamellae..

Photograph (A) and line drawing (B) of the holotype specimen of Paakniwatavis grandei (FMNH PA725). Bone is unfilled. Extremely crushed bone and bone margin is delimited with dashed margins.

Anatomical abbreviations: prx, premaxilla; max, maxilla; jug, jugal; orb, orbital margin; rmf, rostral mandibular fenestra; scl, scleral ossicles; mnd, mandible; rde, radiale; cmc, carpometacarpus.

Photograph (A) and line drawing (B) of the holotype specimen of Paakniwatavis grandei (FMNH PA725). Extremely crushed bone and bone margin is delimited with dashed margins.

Anatomical abbreviations: prx, premaxilla; orb, orbital margin; mnd, mandible; cvt, cervical vertebrae; tvt, thoracic vertebrae; syn, synsacrum; pyg, pygostyle; cor, coracoid; scp, scapula; fur, furcula; str, sternum; rbs, ribs; hum, humerus; uln, ulna; rad, radius; rde, radiale; cmc, carpometacarpus; mII:1, phalanx 1 of manual digit II; mtII:2, phalanx 2 of manual digit II; ili, ilium; fem, femur; tbt, tibiotarsus; tmt, tarsometatarsus; mtI, metatarsal I; I:1, phalanx 1 of pedal digit I; II:1, phalanx 1 of pedal digit II; III:1, phalanx 1 of pedal digit III; IV:1, phalanx 1 of pedal digit IV.

Systematic paleontology

AVES Linnaeus, 1758 

NEOGNATHAE Pycraft, 1900 

ANSERIFORMES Wagler, 1831 

Paakniwatavis grandei, gen. et sp. nov.

Etymology: Paakniwatavis references Paakniwat, used by the Shoshoni tribe indigenous to the region of the recovery site and means “Water Spirit”. The Water Spirits are dangerous supernatural beings that lure people to their death with child-like cries. The name references the aquatic ecology of this taxon. The species honors Dr. Lance Grande, who collected the holotype specimen, in recognition of his leading research on the faunas of the Green River Formation.

 Grace Musser and Julia A. Clarke. 2024. A new Paleogene fossil and a new dataset for waterfowl (Aves: Anseriformes) clarify phylogeny, ecological evolution, and avian evolution at the K-Pg Boundary. PLoS ONE. 19(7): e0278737. DOI: doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278737

https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.11.23.517648v1.full

[PaleoOrnithology • 2025] Vegavis iaai • Cretaceous Antarctic Bird Skull elucidates early Avian Ecological Diversity

 Vegavis iaai  Clarke et al., 2005

in Torres, Clarke, Groenke, Lamanna, MacPhee, Musser, Roberts et O’Connor, 2025.

DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08390-0  

Artwork: Mark Witton

Abstract

Fossils representing Cretaceous lineages of crown clade birds (Aves) are exceptionally rare but are crucial to elucidating major ecological shifts across early avian divergences. Among the earliest known putative crown birds is Vegavis iaai, a foot-propelled diver from the latest Cretaceous (69.2–68.4 million years ago)6 of Antarctica with controversial phylogenetic affinities. Initially recovered by phylogenetic analyses as a stem anatid (ducks and closely related species), Vegavis has since been recovered as a stem member of Anseriformes (waterfowl), or outside Aves altogether10. Here we report a new, nearly complete skull of Vegavis that provides new insight into its feeding ecology and exhibits morphologies that support placement among waterfowl within crown-group birds. Vegavis has an avian beak (absence of teeth and reduced maxilla) and brain shape (hyperinflated cerebrum and ventrally shifted optic lobes). The temporal fossa is well excavated and expansive, indicating that this bird had hypertrophied jaw musculature. The beak is narrow and pointed, and the mandible lacks retroarticular processes. Together, these features comprise a feeding apparatus unlike that of any other known anseriform but like that of other extant birds that capture prey underwater (for example, grebes and loons). The Cretaceous occurrence of Vegavis, with a feeding ecology unique among known Galloanserae (waterfowl and landfowl), is further indication that the earliest anseriform divergences were marked by evolutionary experiments unrepresented in the extant diversity.

Digital reconstruction of the Late Cretaceous (~69 million years old) crown bird Vegavis iaai that was completed following high-resolution micro-computed tomography of a fossil-bearing concretion discovered on Vega Island, Antarctic Peninsula.

Credit: Joseph Groenke and Christopher Torres. 

The Late Cretaceous modern (crown) bird, Vegavis iaai, pursuit diving for fish in the shallow ocean off the coast of the Antarctic peninsula, with ammonites and plesiosaurs for company.

Artwork: Mark Witton, 2025.

 

Christopher R. Torres, Julia A. Clarke, Joseph R. Groenke, Matthew C. Lamanna, Ross D. E. MacPhee, Grace M. Musser, Eric M. Roberts and Patrick M. O’Connor. 2025. Cretaceous Antarctic Bird Skull elucidates early Avian Ecological Diversity. Nature. 638; 146–151. DOI: doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08390-0  

[PaleoOrnithology • 2023] Anachronornis anhimops • Basal Anseriformes from the Early Paleogene of North America and Europe

 Anachronornis anhimops 

Houde, Dickson & Camarena, 2023 

   

 DOI:  10.3390/d15020233  

Abstract

We describe nearly complete skeletons of basal Anseriformes from the Latest Paleocene to the early Eocene of North America and Europe. Collectively, these birds appear to be representative of anseriforms near the divergence of Anhimae and Anseres, but their exact positions relative to these clades remains uncertain. A new family, Anachronornithidae nov. fam., is erected on the basis of one of these, Anachronornis anhimops nov. gen., nov. gen. et sp., to which the others cannot be confidently assigned. The new fossils augment a growing collection of early Pan-Anseriformes, which in their diversity do not paint an unambiguous picture of phylogeny or character state evolution on the path to or within crown-Anseriformes. Anachronornis nov. gen. is similar in some aspects of both cranial and postcranial anatomy to other well-represented early Paleogene Anseriformes and members of Anseres, such as Presbyornis Wetmore, 1926. However, it exhibits a more landfowl-like bill, like that of Anhimae and unlike the spatulate bill of Anseres. Additional specimens of similar basal Anseriformes of uncertain affinities from the early Eocene of North America and Europe further complicate interpretation of character state polarity due to the mosaicism of primitive and derived characters they exhibit.  

Keywords: Anseriformes; Anseres; Anhimidae; Anachronornithidae; Presbyornis; Anatalavis; Nettapterornis; Anachronornis; Danielsavis

 

  Holotype of Anachronornis anhimops nov. gen. et sp. (USNM 496700):
skull, ventral (A), dorsal (B), right lateral (C), right lateral in matrix (D), caudal (E); mandible with heavy gauge wire glued to medial side of right dentary, right lateral (F), dorsal (G), oblique caudomedial aspect of right side (K), right caudal (O); quadrates, left lateral (H), right lateral (I), left medial (L), right medial (M); basihyal (Q), costal fragment with uncinate process (R), left palatine (S), right thoracic vertebrae (T). Quadrate (USNM 496701; Anseriformes fam. incertae sedis): right lateral (J), right medial (N).
Holotype of Danielsavis nazensis nov. gen. et sp. (NMS.Z.2021.40.1): right caudal mandible (P).

All but (D,P) are coated with ammonium hydroxide. Scale bar 1 cm.

 Class Aves Linnaeus, 1758

Order Anseriformes Wagler, 1831

Family Anachronornithidae nov. fam. Houde, Dickson, and Camarena

 

Included genus Anachronornis nov. gen.

Diagnosis: Anachronornithidae nov. fam. is distinguished from all known Anhimidae and Anseres by a lack of unambiguous synapomorphies diagnosing those respective clades and in many respects is intermediate between the two.

Anachronornis nov. gen. Houde, Dickson, and Camarena

 

Etymology: From the Greek ἀναχρονισμός, out of time, and ὄρνις, bird, alluding to the unexpectedly late occurrence of what may be, or may be close to, the most recent common ancestor of the two crown-anseriform lineages, Anhimae and Anseres.

Type and only known species: Anachronornis anhimops nov. gen. et sp.

Occurrence: Late Paleocene of North America.

Diagnosis: As for the family, by monotypy. (Full account of all putative apomorphies by dataset in Supplemental Materials and Supplementary Appendices A3, B2, C2, D2, F3, G6 and G7).

Anachronornis anhimops nov. gen. et sp. Houde, Dickson, and Camarena

Etymology: From the generic name Anhima, a screamer, and ops (Greek, face, countenance, appearance of the face). The name is intended to refer to the screamer-like bill and appearance of the head, particularly like that of Anhima in which the supraorbital region may be somewhat narrower than in Chauna.

 Peter Houde, Meig Dickson and Dakota Camarena. 2023. Basal Anseriformes from the Early Paleogene of North America and Europe. Diversity. 15(2); 233. DOI:  10.3390/d15020233  

 

  

[PaleoOrnithology • 2022] Annakacygna hajimei & A. yoshiiensis • A New Genus for Two remarkable Flightless Swans (Aves: Anatidae: Cygnini) from the Miocene of Gunma, central Japan: With A Note on the Birds’ food niche shift and Specialization of Wings for parental care actions

 

ANNAKACYGNA, gen. nov.

Annakacygna hajimei and A. yoshiiensis 

Matsuoka & Hasegawa, 2022

 www.gmnh.pref.gunma.jp/research/no26 

  twitter.com/Gunma_Shizenshi

Abstract

 A new genus and two new species of flightless fossil Cygnini (Aves: Anatidae), Annakacygna hajimei and A. yoshiiensis are described from the horizon of about 11.5 Ma of the Miocene Haraichi Formation, Annaka Group of Gunma, central Japan. The type specimen of A. hajimei (GMNH-PV-678) is the associated skeleton of an adult bird. Osteological features of A. hajimei indicate that this large anatid bird belongs to tribe Cygnini as it possesses the diagnostic features of the tribe such as the long neck and long pelvis with dorsally swelling ala postacetabularis illi. Annakacygna were a group of flightless birds characterized by the distally small wing elements, large body, and pachyostotic bones. In addition, the autapomorphies of Annakacygna indicate that this bird was an animal with the body plan that specialized in breeding behavior, or sex appeal in a broad sense, and uniquely developed the filter feeding with its large head. In a sense, Annakacygna acquired remarkable evolutionary forms for two essential biological activities, eating and reproduction, is the “ultimate bird” ever exist. A. yoshiiensis, known only from the distal end of tibiotarsus (GMNH-PV-1685), was a gigantic species and showed the diversification within this unique genus in the sea of Miocene Japan. 

Key Words: Miocene, Annaka Group, Cygnini, Flightless bird, Annakacygna

  The skeleton of Annakacygna hajimei.
In standing and wing folded posture. The white elements/parts were not found in the fossil.

Class AVES Linnaeus, 1758 

Order ANSERIFORMES Wagler, 1831 

Family ANATIDAE Leach, 1820 

Subfamily ANSERINAE Vigors, 1825 

Tribe CYGNINI Vigors, 1825

ANNAKACYGNA, gen. nov.

 Type Species— Annakacygna hajimei, sp. nov. 

Included Species— Type species and A. yoshiiensis, sp. nov. 

 Diagnosis— Large-sized anatid with a relatively big head and relatively reduced pectoral skeleton that is characterized by the combination of the following osteological features: craniumwide fossa temporalis, presence of "pseudo-sagittal crest", presence of salt gland impression; lacrimal- unfused to the frontal of ...

Etymology— Combination of Annaka, the city name of type locality, and cygna, the feminine of Latin cygnus, swan.

ANNAKACYGNA HAJIMEI, sp. nov.

Etymology— After local paleontologist Mr. Hajime Nakajima, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to vertebrate paleontology of Gunma. 

  

ANNAKACYGNA YOSHIIENSIS, sp. nov.

Etymology— After the name of type locality town, Yoshiimachi. 

MATSUOKA Hiroshige and HASEGAWA Yoshikazu. 2022. Annakacygna, A New Genus for Two remarkable Flightless Swans (Aves, Anatidae, Cygnini) from the Miocene of Gunma, central Japan: With A Note on the Birds’ food niche shift and Specialization of Wings for parental care actions. Bull. Gunma Mus. Natu. Hist. (26); 1-30 www.gmnh.pref.gunma.jp/research/no26/

  www.gmnh.pref.gunma.jp/wp-content/uploads/bulletin26_1.pdf

  twitter.com/Gunma_Shizenshi/status/1519609290574954496

  twitter.com/albertonykus/status/1518579679850029063

[PaleoOrnithology • 2022] Manuherikia primadividua • A New Species of Manuherikia (Aves: Anatidae) provides evidence of Faunal Turnover in the St Bathans Fauna, New Zealand

Manuherikia primadividua

Worthy, Scofield, Salisbury, Hand, De Pietri, Blokland & Archer, 2022

DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2021.08.002 

Artwork by Tom Simpson

Abstract

The St Bathans Fauna is a highly diverse non-marine vertebrate assemblage derived from the lower Miocene (19–16 Ma) Bannockburn Formation exposed in Central Otago, New Zealand. Deposited in palaeolake Manuherikia, remains of waterfowl dominate the avian assemblage, which, with eight known species in four genera, is one of the more diverse globally. Here we describe Manuherikia primadividua nov. sp., the fourth species in the genus. The stratigraphic distribution of fossils assignable to M. primadividua nov. sp. and a previously known species of Manuherikia, M. lacustrina, allow for the recognition of two distinct biozones within the Bannockburn Formation. Fossils of Manuherikia lacustrina are shown to be restricted to beds in the lower 26 m of the Bannockburn Formation in the Manuherikia River Section while fossils of the new species only occur in beds higher than 34 m in this section. This zonation allows correlation of the disparate sites in nearby Mata Creek with the stratigraphy in the Manuherikia River Section. This is the first such biostratigraphical zonation recognised in the fossil-bearing horizons at St Bathans; all other vertebrates have distributions spanning the stratigraphical range of both species. We tentatively correlate this vertebrate zonation with the previously identified pollen zonation, namely the Casuarinaceae Zone and its overlying Asteraceae-Chenopodiaceae or Chenopodipollis chenopodiaceoides Zone. This transition marks a relatively minor environmental change towards drier and more seasonal climates that appears to have driven the palaeoecological replacement of M. lacustrina by M. primadividua nov. sp. in palaeolake Manuherikia.

 Keywords: Early Miocene, Fossil birds, New Zealand, St Bathans Fauna, Biostratigraphical zonation

Manuherikia primadividua nov. sp.

 

Trevor H. Worthy, R. Paul Scofield, Steven W. Salisbury, Suzanne J. Hand, Vanesa L. De Pietri, Jacob C. Blokland and Michael Archer. 2022. A New Species of Manuherikia (Aves: Anatidae) provides evidence of Faunal Turnover in the St Bathans Fauna, New Zealand. Geobios. 70; 87-107. DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2021.08.002 

 phys.org/news/2022-02-dead-duck-dates-fossil.html

  sci-news.com/paleontology/manuherikia-primadividua-10655.html

[PaleoOrnithology • 2022] Miotadorna catrionae • A New Species of Large Duck (Aves: Anatidae) from the Miocene of New Zealand

Miotadorna catrionae 

 Tennyson, Greer, Lubbe, Marx, Richards, Giovanardi & Rawlence, 2022 

Catriona’s Shelduck  ||  DOI: 10.3390/taxonomy2010011  

  twitter.com/Nic_Rawlence_NZ 

sciblogs.co.nz/lost-worlds

Abstract

We describe a new species of extinct duck, Miotadorna catrionae sp. nov. (Anatidae, Tadornini, Tadorninae), based on a right humerus from the Miocene lacustrine deposits of St Bathans, Otago, New Zealand. Principal component analysis reveals that the new taxon is distinguished by its large size and relative proportions. This is the eighth and largest species of duck described from the St Bathans fossil assemblage and further underscores the global importance of this site for understanding anatid evolution.

Keywords: Tadornini; Miotadorna catrionae sp. nov.; fossil; shelduck; lacustrine; Bannockburn formation

Right holotype humeri of Miotadorna catrionae sp. nov. (NMNZ S.47273, left) and Miotadorna sanctibathansi (NMNZ S.42794, right) in different views:
 (A) caudal, (B) cranial, showing features referred to in the text. Measurements (in mm) for individual bone sections in (B) are as follows: i, 33.0; ii, 31.8; iii, 23.0; iv, 21.4; v, 33.3; total = 142.5.

SYSTEMATICS

Class Aves Linnaeus, 1758

Order Anseriformes Wagler, 1831

Family Anatidae Leach, 1819

Subfamily Tadorninae Reichenbach, 1849: Shelducks

Tribe Tadornini Reichenbach, 1849

Genus Miotadorna Worthy, Tennyson, Jones, McNamara and Douglas, 2007

Miotadorna catrionae sp. nov. Tennyson, Greer, Lubbe, Marx, Richards, Giovanardi and Rawlence

Holotype: NMNZ S.47273, right humerus.

Type locality: Mata Creek Site 9, St Bathans, Central Otago, 44° 52.8288′ S, 169° 50.4162′ E. NZ Fossil Record File Number H41/f0122. Bannockburn Formation, late early–earliest middle Miocene (Burdigalian–Langhian global stage, Altonian local stage), 18.7–15.9 Ma. 

Etymology: After N.J.R.’s mother Catriona Drummond (1954–2020) who inspired his love of natural history.

Suggested English vernacular name: Catriona’s Shelduck.

Diagnosis: Shelduck characterized by a robust humerus (142.5 mm long) with a wide proximal and a narrow distal end. Differs from all other anatid humeri from St Bathans in its larger size, which is comparable to that of a small goose, such as the Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca) (e.g., NMNZ OR.29470: humerus length 142.2 mm). It specifically differs from Miotadorna sanctibathansi—the largest previously described anatid from St Bathans—in having a longer, more tapered humerus with a wider proximal end but a similar-sized distal end (Figure 2B, Appendix A). Resembles M. sanctibathansi in having an elongate shaft, a prominent capital shaft ridge directed towards the ventral side of a markedly elevated dorsal tubercle, a relatively narrow dorsal pneumotricipital fossa that does not undercut the humeral head, an elongate deltoid crest that extends well distal of the bicipital crest, and in having the attachment of the superficial pronator muscle located cranial of centre on the ventral face.

 Alan J. D. Tennyson, Liam Greer, Pascale Lubbe, Felix G. Marx, Marcus D. Richards, Simone Giovanardi and Nicolas J. Rawlence. 2022. A New Species of Large Duck (Aves: Anatidae) from the Miocene of New Zealand. Taxonomy. 2(1); 136-144. DOI: 10.3390/taxonomy2010011  

  twitter.com/Nic_Rawlence_nz/status/1501704814442745858

  twitter.com/Taxonomy_MDPI/status/1501800668457103361

Something old, something new: meet St Bathans newest fossil duck

sciblogs.co.nz/lost-worlds/2022/03/10/something-old-something-new-meet-st-bathans-newest-fossil-duck

[PaleoOrnithology • 2019] Conflicto antarcticus • A Stem Anseriform from the early Palaeocene of Antarctica provides New Key Evidence in the Early Evolution of Waterfowl

Conflicto antarcticus  

Tambussi, Degrange, De Mendoza, Sferco & Santillana, 2019

  DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zly085 

  twitter.com/ZoolJLinnSoc

Illustration by H. Santiago Druetta  facebook.com/HSantiagoDruetta

Abstract

A new Anseriformes, Conflicto antarcticus gen. et sp. nov., represented by associated bones of a single individual, from the early Palaeocene of Antarctica is described. The new taxon is unlike any other known member of the order. Conflicto antarcticus is a medium-sized (2 kg) stem anseriform. The forelimb and pectoral girdle bones suggest that it was a flying bird, and the bones of the hindlimb show that it had elongated legs. The os quadratum represents a unique combination of features; some are similar to the features of the ancestral quadrate for galloanserines and some are similar to Anseriformes, but features such as the presence of three foramina are exclusive among Neornithes. The incisura or foramen nervi suracoracoidei is absent in C. antarcticus, as in most anatids and all Galliformes. Phylogenetic analysis shows that C. antarcticus + Anatalavis oxfordi is the most basal stem Anseriformes clade. This implies that the duck-type beak must have developed at an early stage of anseriform evolution. Conflicto antarcticus represents one (and possibly the most) substantial record of a non-marine Palaeocene bird from the Southern Hemisphere and supports the hypothesis that Neognathae had already diversified in the earliest Palaeocene.

Keywords: Antarctica, Anseriformes, Conflicto antarcticus, Palaeocene, phylogeny

The skull of Conflicto antarcticus gen. et sp. nov. A, left lateral view. B, right lateral view. The arrows point at the bulges of the os frontale.

Abbreviations: cnt, crista nuchalis transversa; fal, facies articularis lacrimalis; fg, fossae glandularum; fnII, nerve II exit foramen; fnV2-3, nerve V2–3 exit foramen; foc, fonticuli orbitocraniales; foi, fonticulus interorbitalis; fst, fossa subtemporalis; ft, fossa temporalis; na, nares; pbt, processus basipterygoideus; pc, prominentia cerebellaris; pco, processus coronoideus; plm, processus lateralis mandibulae; pp, processus paroccipitalis; ppo, processus postorbitalis; pr, processus retroarticularis; psn, pila supranasalis; rp, rostrum parasphenoidale; ta, tuba auditiva. Scale bar: 1 cm.

SYSTEMATIC PALAEONTOLOGY

Aves Linnaeus, 1758

Neognathae Pycraft, 1900

Galloanseres Sibley & Ahlquist, 1990

Order Anseriformes (Wagler, 1831)

Incertae familiae

Conflicto gen. nov.

Derivation of name: Conflicto, from the Latin conflictus (contradiction, masculine in gender), owing to the controversial systematic position of the taxon. 

 Conflicto antarcticus sp. nov.

Derivation of name: Relative to the geographical area of origin, Antarctica.

Skeletal anatomy of Conflicto antarcticus gen. et sp. nov. MLP 07-III-1-1. Bones coloured in grey are missing. Some of the bones have been mirrored (e.g. os quadratum, os coracoideum) or restored based on both homologous bones (e.g. humerus) Scale bar: 5 cm.

 

Claudia P. Tambussi, Federico J. Degrange, Ricardo S. De Mendoza, Emilia Sferco and Sergrio Santillana. 2019. A Stem Anseriform from the early Palaeocene of Antarctica provides New Key Evidence in the Early Evolution of Waterfowl. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 186(3); 673–700. DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zly085  

 twitter.com/ZoolJLinnSoc/status/1153599821602856960

 facebook.com/HSantiagoDruetta/posts/1020646378130897

Nueva clave para comprender la evolución del pico de pato conicet.gov.ar/nueva-clave-para-comprender-la-evolucion-del-pico-de-pato/

[PaleoOrnithology • 2017] Ancient DNA and Morphometric Analysis Reveal Extinction and Replacement of New Zealand's Unique Black Swans, Cygnus sumnerensis

The skeleton of the poūwa, Cygnus sumnerensis (Forbes, 1890) 

Rawlence, Kardamaki, Easton, et al. 2017.

 Ancient DNA and Morphometric Analysis Reveal Extinction and Replacement of New Zealand's Unique Black Swans.  Proceedings of the Royal Society B.  DOI:  10.1098/rspb.2017.0876 

Abstract

Prehistoric human impacts on megafaunal populations have dramatically reshaped ecosystems worldwide. However, the effects of human exploitation on smaller species, such as anatids (ducks, geese, and swans) are less clear. In this study we apply ancient DNA and osteological approaches to reassess the history of Australasia's iconic black swans (Cygnus atratus) including the palaeo-behaviour of prehistoric populations. Our study shows that at the time of human colonization, New Zealand housed a genetically, morphologically, and potentially ecologically distinct swan lineage (Cygnus sumnerensis, Poūwa), divergent from modern (Australian) C. atratus. Morphological analyses indicate C. sumnerensis exhibited classic signs of the ‘island rule’ effect, being larger, and likely flight-reduced compared to C. atratus. Our research reveals sudden extinction and replacement events within this anatid species complex, coinciding with recent human colonization of New Zealand. This research highlights the role of anthropogenic processes in rapidly reshaping island ecosystems and raises new questions for avian conservation, ecosystem re-wilding, and de-extinction.

KEYWORDS:  ancient-DNA, Australia, black swan, Chatham Islands, Cygnus atratus, Cygnus sumnerensis, Q1 extinction, island rule, New Zealand, Poūwa, recolonization

The skeleton of the extinct poūwa.

Jean-Claude Stahl / Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa 

The mounted bones of an extinct poūwa.

Photo: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Nicolas J. Rawlence, Afroditi Kardamaki, Luke J. Easton, Alan J. D. Tennyson, R. Paul Scofield and Jonathan M. Waters. 2017. Ancient DNA and Morphometric Analysis Reveal Extinction and Replacement of New Zealand's Unique Black Swans.
 Proceedings of the Royal Society B.  DOI:  10.1098/rspb.2017.0876

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3900672/Ancient-DNA-and-morphometric-analysis-reveal.pdf

 Introducing the Poūwa: New Zealand’s unique and ill-fated black swan
sciblogs.co.nz/guestwork/2017/07/26/introducing-pouwa-new-zealands-unique-ill-fated-black-swan/  @sciblogsnz

The legend of Poūwa: ancient myths of New Zealand's black swan confirmed by fossil DNA
 theconversation.com/the-legend-of-pouwa-ancient-myths-of-new-zealands-black-swan-confirmed-by-fossil-dna-81611 @ConversationEDU

NZ's ill-fated burly black swan  radionz.co.nz/news/national/335850/nz-s-ill-fated-burly-black-swan