A chicken-sized crane precursor from the early Oligocene of France |
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Authors: | Gerald Mayr |
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Institution: | (1) Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Sektion Ornithologie, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany |
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Abstract: | A skeleton of a chicken-sized crane precursor is described from the Lower Oligocene of the Lubéron in Southern France. Parvigrus pohli gen. et sp. nov. is the most substantial Paleogene fossil record of the Grues (Aramidae limpkin] + Gruidae cranes]), and
among its oldest representatives. The fossil species is classified in the new taxon Parvigruidae, which is shown to be the
sister group of extant Grues. It is the first fossil record of a stem lineage representative of the Grues and, among others,
differs from modern Grues in its smaller size, shorter beak, and rail-like limb proportions. Size increase in the stem lineage
of the Gruidae may be related to the spread of grasslands during the Oligocene and Miocene. Occurrence of stem lineage Grues
in the Lower Oligocene of Europe is in concordance with the fact that there is no evidence for the presence of crown group
members of modern avian “families” in pre-Oligocene fossil deposits.
Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at |
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