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Two swallow species from the early Pliocene of Langebaanweg (South Africa)

100%

Manegold A.

Acta Palaeontologica Polonica

2010

tom 55

nr 4

The Varswater Formation of Langebaanweg at the west coast of South Africa is one of the few fossil sites in Africa dating from the early Pliocene (approx. 5 Mya) (Hendey 1981) and excels in being especially rich in well preserved, though generally isolated, bird remains. Rich (1980: 166) regarded this site as richest pre−Pleistocene bird bone accumulation in the world with at least 60 bird species representing among them penguins, tubenoses, parrots and mousebirds. Studies on seabirds, ibises and other taxa (Olson 1985a, b, 1994) indicated that the Pliocene avifauna is even more diverse than initially thought. Passerines are represented by at least nine species (Rich 1980), but no attempts have been made so far to identify these specimens below the subordinal level. The screening of previously unsorted and unidentified material excavated during the 1960s and 1970s at “E” Quarry, Langebaanweg, yielded several hundred remains of passerines. This sample included five fragmentary humeri that show the characteristics of swallows and martins (Hirundinidae), which are described herein.

New early Pliocene owls from Langebaanweg, South Africa, with first evidence of Athene south of the Sahara and a new species of Tyto

80%

Pavia M., Manegold A., Haarhoff P.

Acta Palaeontologica Polonica

2015

tom 60

nr 4

The fossiliferous Upper Varswater Formation at Langebaanweg (South Africa) produced remains of at least five species of owls (Strigiformes). Tyto richae sp. nov. is the first palaeospecies of Tytonidae described from an African fossil site, though indeterminate remains referable to the genus Tyto are known from the Middle Miocene of Morocco, the early Pliocene of Ethiopia, and the Pliocene of Tanzania. Athene inexpectata sp. nov. is not only the earliest documented fossil evidence for the genus worldwide, but also the first record of a species of Athene in Africa south of the Sahara. Proportions of its hind limb indicate that At. inexpectata sp. nov. probably has been as terrestrial as its modern relative At. cunicularia. A few additional remains represent the earliest fossil evidence for the genera Asio and Bubo on the African continent, though the poor preservation of these bones prevents more detailed identifications. A distal tibiotarsus of a small owl about the size of At. inexpectata sp. nov. indicates the presence of a fifth, as yet indeterminate, species of owl at Langebaanweg. Biogeographical and palaeoecological implications of this assemblage of owls are discussed.

Ograniczanie wyników

2 Acta Palaeontologica Polonica

2 Manegold A.

1 Haarhoff P.

1 Pavia M.

1 2015

1 2010

Wyniki wyszukiwania

Two swallow species from the early Pliocene of Langebaanweg (South Africa)

New early Pliocene owls from Langebaanweg, South Africa, with first evidence of Athene south of the Sahara and a new species of Tyto