An exceptional partial skeleton of a new basal raptor (Aves: Accipitridae) from the late Oligocene Namba formation, South Australia

Mather, Ellen K.; Lee, Michael S. Y.; Camens, Aaron B.; Worthy, Trevor H.

doi:10.1080/08912963.2021.1966777

Cited by 650 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 78 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The earliest known Australian accipitrids (eagles, hawks, and Old World vultures) are the late Oligocene species Archaehierax sylvestris Mather et al (2021) from the Namba Formation at Lake Pinpa in South Australia and Pengana robertbolesi Boles (1993) from Riversleigh in north-western Queensland. These species were both adapted for forest habitats, with A. sylvestris having a shortened wingspan for its size (Mather et al 2021) and P. robertbolesi possessing highly flexible legs that would likely have been capable of reaching into tree hollows to pull out prey (Boles 1993).…”

Section: Fossil Record Of Australian Accipitridsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A giant raptor (Aves: Accipitridae) from the Pleistocene of southern Australia

et al. 2023

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The giant accipitrid Dynatoaetus gaffae gen. et sp. nov. is described from existing and newly collected material. Initial fossil remains were collected from Mairs Cave (Flinders Ranges, South Australia) in 1956 and 1969, and comprised a sternum, distal humerus and two ungual phalanges. A further 28 bones from this individual—including the neurocranium, vertebrae, furculum, and additional wing and leg bones, most of which were incomplete—were discovered at the site in 2021. This allowed identification of additional fossils from the same species in collections from Cooper Creek (Lake Eyre Basin, SA), Victoria Fossil Cave (Naracoorte, SA) and Wellington Caves (Wellington, NSW). Dynatoaetus has variable similarity across elements to those of living species in the Perninae, Gypaetinae, Circaetinae and Aegypiinae. Parsimony and Bayesian phylogenetic analyses of combined morphological and DNA data resolved it as the immediate sister-group to the Aegypiinae within the Circaetinae + Aegypiinae clade. The robust and eagle-like morphology of the lower hindlimbs suggest that the species was a predator, rather than a scavenger, and thus functionally similar to large circaetines such as the Philippine Eagle Pithecophaga jefferyi. Furthermore, this new species is the largest known bird of prey from Australia, much larger than the modern Wedge-Tailed Eagle Aquila audax. It is outsized in Australasia only by female Hieraaetus moorei (the extinct Haast’s Eagle from New Zealand). It is inferred to have been Australia’s top terrestrial avian predator during the Pleistocene, ranging from arid inland Australia to the more temperate coast, and likely became extinct around the time of the megafaunal mass extinction which peaked around 50 Ka. Its extinction in the late Pleistocene, along with the recently described scavenging vulture Cryptogyps lacertosus, marked a distinct decline in the diversity and function of Australia’s raptor guild.

show abstract

Section: Fossil Record Of Australian Accipitridsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A giant raptor (Aves: Accipitridae) from the Pleistocene of southern Australia

et al. 2023

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Molecular data from Burleigh et al (2015) were added to the morphological data to improve estimated relationships among living species (Lerner & Mindell 2005;Nagy & Tökölyi 2014;Burleigh et al 2015). The following genes, well-sampled in accipitrids, were used: cytochrome b, cytochrome oxidase 1, NADH dehydrogenase 2, 12s RNA, RAG 1, and fibrinogen B beta introns 6 and 7 (Mather et al 2021).…”

Section: Molecular Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The following species were sampled for available genes from the above loci: Ciconia ciconia, Coragyps atratus, Sagittarius serpentarius, Pandion haliaetus, Elanus caeruleus, Gampsonyx swainsonii, Elanoides forficatus, Chondrohierax uncinatus, Aviceda subcristata, Pernis apivorus, Lophoictinia isura, Hamirostra melanosternon, Polyboroides typus, Neophron percnopterus, Gypohierax angolensis, Gypaetus barbatus, Spilornis cheela, Terathopius ecaudatus, Pithecophaga jefferyi, Necrosyrtes monachus, Gyps fulvus, Gyps coprotheres, Aegypius monachus, Sarcogyps calvus, Trigonoceps occipitalis, Torgos tracheliotos, Harpia harpyja, Stephanoaetus coronatus, Aquila chrysaetos, Hieraaetus morphnoides, Aquila fasciata, Hieraaetus moorei, Spizaetus tyrannus, Spizaetus ornatus, Haliaeetus leucogaster, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Haliaeetus albicilla, Milvus migrans, Melierax metabates, Kaupifalco monogrammicus, Circus aeruginosus, Circus cyaneus, Accipiter cooperii, Accipiter striatus, Accipiter novaehollandiae, Accipiter gentilis, Ictinia mississippiensis, Geranospiza caerulescens, Buteo buteo, Buteo lagopus, Buteo rufofuscus, and Platalea leucorodia. To reduce missing data, genomic data from Platalea leucorodia was used instead of Threskiornis spinicollis, and Elanus caeruleus for Elanus scriptus, as these species pairs consist of closely related taxa (see Campbell & Lapointe 2009 regarding this method) (Mather et al 2021).…”

Section: Molecular Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Forty-seven species of Accipitridae and one each from Pandionidae, Sagittariidae, Cathartidae, Threskiornithidae and Ciconiidae were sampled (Mather et al 2021). The list of 300 morphological characters (67 ordered) is in SI.1, the data matrix is in SI.2, and the nexus input file is in SI.3.…”

Section: Phylogenetic Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Phylogenetic relationships were assessed using the parsimony program PAuP 4.0a169, using a combined molecular-morphological dataset and heuristic searches. Each search comprised of 1000 random addition replicates, and enabled TBR branch swapping, with NCHuCK set to 1000 (Mather et al 2021). Characters that were inapplicable to a specimen were coded using a '-', while missing data were coded as '?'…”

Section: Phylogenetic Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A new look at an old Australian raptor places “Taphaetus” lacertosus de Vis 1905 in the Old World vultures (Accipitridae: Aegypiinae)

Mather

Lee

Worthy

2022

Zootaxa

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Australian Pleistocene fossil record of the Accipitridae (hawks, eagles and Old World vultures) is sparse and poorly known. Only two extinct confirmed accipitrid species have been described for this time period; both have received little investigation since their description. One is “Taphaetus” lacertosus de Vis, 1905, described from a distal humerus and a quadrate from north-eastern South Australia. While this species was verified as an accipitrid in subsequent studies, its more precise taxonomic affinities have remained conjectural. In this study, a new analysis incorporating newly referred material and phylogenetic analyses using a wide range of accipitriforms reveals that the lectotype humerus of “T.” lacertosus is an Old World vulture in the subfamily Aegypiinae. The associated quadrate, one of two original syntypes from which de Vis named this species, is of an indeterminate species of ardeid. We erect the novel genus Cryptogyps, to accommodate the species ‘lacertosus’, as it cannot be placed in Taphaetus de Vis, 1891, because the type species of this genus, Uroaetus brachialis de Vis, 1889, was transferred back to the genus Uroaetus, a synonym of Aquila Brisson, by de Vis in 1905. Further, U. brachialis is now considered a synonym of Aquila audax (Latham, 1801). Moreover, Taphaetus de Vis, 1891 is a senior homonym of Taphaetus de Vis, 1905, type species Taphaetus lacertosus de Vis, 1905, making the 1905 version of the genus unavailable. Newly referred fossils from Wellington Caves (NSW) and the Nullarbor Plains (WA) reveal this taxon had a wide geographical range across Pleistocene Australia. The referred tarsometatarsus lacks hyper-developed trochleae, indicating that Cryptogyps lacertosus (de Vis, 1905) comb. nov., was probably a scavenger like other aegypiines. Identification of Cryptogyps lacertosus as an aegypiine significantly expands the palaeogeographical range of the Old World vultures, hitherto unknown in Australia. The avian guild of large, obligate scavenging birds of prey, is currently absent in the modern Australian biota, but its former presence is not surprising given the megafauna-rich communities of the Pleistocene.

show abstract