The Fossil Loon, Colymboides minutus

Storer, Robert W.

doi:10.2307/1365096

Cited by 33 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…metzleri and C. minutus, whereas C. anglicus and C. belgicus are distinctly larger. Its coracoid, humerus, ulna, and carpometacarpus closely match the corresponding elements of C. minutus, which were described in detail by Milne-Edwards (1867-1871) and Storer (1956), and the new fossils do not show morphological features of taxonomic or phylogenetic interest that were not already described by these authors.…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 76%

A small loon and a new species of large owl from the Rupelian of Belgium (Aves: Gaviiformes, Strigiformes)

Mayr

2009

Paläontol. Z.

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The early Oligocene Boom Formation in Belgium yielded many avian remains from the Rupelian unitstratotype, most of which have remained unstudied so far. Here, I describe a small loon (Gaviiformes) and a new species of large owl (Strigiformes) that are represented by associated bones of a single individual each. The loon, of which wing and pectoral girdle bones are preserved, is assigned to Colymboides (?) metzleri, a species previously known from a partial skeleton from the Rupelian of Germany. The owl is based on a tarsometatarsus and distal tibiotarsus and described as a new species, Selenornis steendorpensis. It constitutes the most substantial fossil record of the taxon Selenornis, which was before known from a distal tibiotarsus from an unknown horizon of the Quercy fissure fillings in southwestern France. It is detailed that there are differences in the higher level taxonomic composition of the known early Oligocene avifaunas of northern and southern Europe, which may reflect true zoogeographic facts owing to a different climate and vegetation.Keywords Fossil birds Á Rupelian Á North Sea basin Á Colymboides (?) metzleri Á Selenornis steendorpensis n. sp.Kurzfassung Die unteroligozäne Boom Formation in Belgien lieferte zahlreiche Vogelüberreste aus dem Stratotyp der Rupel-Stufe, von denen die meisten allerdings bis jetzt unbearbeitet blieben. Hier beschreibe ich einen kleinen Seetaucher (Gaviiformes) und eine neue Art einer großen Eule (Strigiformes), die jeweils durch mehrere Knochen eines einzelnen Individuums repräsentiert sind.Der Seetaucher, von dem Flügel-und Schultergürtelele-mente erhalten sind, wird zu Colymboides (?) metzleri gestellt, einer Art, die bisher nur von einem Teilskelett aus dem Rupelton Deutschlands bekannt war. Die Eule basiert auf einem Tarsometatarsus und einem distalen Tibiotarsus und wird als neue Art, Selenornis steendorpensis, beschrieben. Sie stellt den umfangreichsten Fossilnachweis des Taxons Selenornis dar, welches bisher nur von einem distalen Tibiotarsus von einem unbekannten Horizont der Spaltfüllungen des Quercy im südwestlichem Frankreich bekannt war. Es wird ausgeführt, dass es Unterschiede bezüglich der taxonomischen Zusammensetzung der unteroligozänen Avifaunen von Nord-und Südeuropa gibt, welche möglicherweise tatsächliche tiergeographische Tatsachen infolge eines unterschiedlichen Klimas und einer unterschiedlichen Vegetation widerspiegeln.

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Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 76%

A small loon and a new species of large owl from the Rupelian of Belgium (Aves: Gaviiformes, Strigiformes)

Mayr

2009

Paläontol. Z.

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“…In Europe, the earliest record of Gaviiformes is Colymboides anglicus Lydekker 1891 from the Upper Eocene of England (Storer, 1956). This species is represented by a coracoid, a referred humerus, and a referred frontal part of the skull (Harrison & Walker, 1976c).…”

Section: Composition Of the Paleogene European Avifauna ( 1) Palamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this specimen stomach content is preserved, which shows Paleogene loons to be piscivorous like their modern relatives. Remains of Colymboides are also known from early Miocene deposits (Storer, 1956). Storer (1956, p. 423) noted that the hindlimbs of Colymboides were ' not as highly adapted for swimming rapidly and powerfully under water as are those of living loons ', and that the ' morphological differences between Colymboides and Gavia are many and rather great, but they are largely one of size and degree of specialization ' (p. 425).…”

Section: Composition Of the Paleogene European Avifauna ( 1) Palamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Paleogene fossil record of birds in Europe

2005

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The Paleogene (Paleocene-Oligocene) fossil record of birds in Europe is reviewed and recent and fossil taxa are placed into a phylogenetic framework, based on published cladistic analyses. The pre-Oligocene European avifauna is characterized by the complete absence of passeriform birds, which today are the most diverse and abundant avian taxon. Representatives of small non-passeriform perching birds thus probably had similar ecological niches before the Oligocene to those filled by modern passerines. The occurrence of passerines towards the Lower Oligocene appears to have had a major impact on these birds, and the surviving crown-group members of many small arboreal Eocene taxa show highly specialized feeding strategies not found or rare in passeriform birds. It is detailed that no crown-group members of modern 'families ' are known from preOligocene deposits of Europe, or anywhere else. The phylogenetic position of Paleogene birds thus indicates that diversification of the crown-groups of modern avian 'families ' did not take place before the Oligocene, irrespective of their relative position within Neornithes (crown-group birds). The Paleogene fossil record of birds does not even support crown-group diversification of Galliformes, one of the most basal taxa of neognathous birds, before the Oligocene, and recent molecular studies that dated diversification of galliform crown-group taxa into the Middle Cretaceous are shown to be based on an incorrect interpretation of the fossil taxa used for molecular clock calibrations. Several taxa that occur in the Paleogene of Europe have a very different distribution than their closest extant relatives. The modern survivors of these Paleogene lineages are not evenly distributed over the continents, and especially the great number of taxa that are today restricted to South and Central America is noteworthy. The occurrence of stem-lineage representatives of many taxa that today have a restricted Southern Hemisphere distribution conflicts with recent hypotheses on a Cretaceous vicariant origin of these taxa, which were deduced from the geographical distribution of the basal crown-group members.

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“…In this respect, however, it is not unlike the early Miocene loon Colymboides minutus from the Aquitanian of France (Storer, 1956: fig. 2).…”

Section: Systematic Paleontologymentioning

confidence: 86%

“…Grebes have been postulated to have arisen in the Southern Hemisphere and do not appear in the Northern Hemisphere until the Miocene (Olson, 1989). Furthermore, the greatest modern diversity of grebes is in South America (Storer, 1967). Conversely, extant loons, as well as all of their previous fossil record, are confined to the northern portions of the Northern Hemisphere.…”

Section: Systematic Paleontologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Neogaeornis wetzeliLambrecht, a Cretaceous loon from Chile (Aves: Gaviidae)

Olson

1992

Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology

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The Fossil Loon, Colymboides minutus

Cited by 33 publications

References 5 publications

A small loon and a new species of large owl from the Rupelian of Belgium (Aves: Gaviiformes, Strigiformes)

A small loon and a new species of large owl from the Rupelian of Belgium (Aves: Gaviiformes, Strigiformes)

The Paleogene fossil record of birds in Europe

Neogaeornis wetzeliLambrecht, a Cretaceous loon from Chile (Aves: Gaviidae)

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