GeobiosPub Date : 2024-08-06DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.05.004
Jingmai K. O’Connor , Jessie Atterholt , Alida M. Bailleul , Min Wang , Pei-Chen Kuo , Zhonghe Zhou
{"title":"Description and osteohistology of two early immature enantiornithines (Aves: Ornithothoraces) from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota","authors":"Jingmai K. O’Connor , Jessie Atterholt , Alida M. Bailleul , Min Wang , Pei-Chen Kuo , Zhonghe Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.05.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.05.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Enantiornithes is the dominant clade of Cretaceous land birds and the most diverse recognized clade of Mesozoic birds. More than half of this diversity is from the Lower Cretaceous Jehol deposits in northeastern China, and numerous late immature and mature specimens have been sectioned for histological analysis. These specimens reveal thin cortices with low amounts of vascularization and variably-present growth lines. An inner circumferential layer is typically observed, but rarely a distinct outer circumferential layer. Here we describe the morphology and histology of two early immature enantiornithines and explore ontogenetic changes in skeletal morphology and bone formation. These specimens help to fill in a crucial ontogenetic gap between the previously sectioned embryonic specimen of <em>Gobipteryx</em> and purportedly mature or near mature specimens. In support of interpretations regarding the precocial onset of flight in Enantiornithes, the proportions of the forelimb cortical thicknesses relative to the hindlimb in IVPP V15575 is very similar to mature enantiornithines. Opposite neornithines, the bone tissue of the humerus is more mature than the tibia. Precocial development of the femur is considered plesiomorphic to Aves, thus the shift towards greater maturity in the forelimb relative to the hindlimb observed in IVPP V15575 probably reflects the apomorphic evolution of super-precocial flight in enantiornithines. Osteohistological traits in IVPP V15686 and V15575 resemble those of extant chicks on the more altricial end of the developmental mode spectrum, but individuals from later growth stages. Since ossification indicates these two specimens are very immature, this highlights the unique osteohistological development of enantiornithines. Differences between these two individuals are potentially indicative of intertaxonomic variation in enantiornithine growth strategies. However, developmental plasticity in stem birds means that morphological and osteohistological maturity are decoupled and that ossification patterns can vary even within a taxon. As such, significantly more data are required to fully understand observed differences and extract patterns regarding variation in developmental strategy among enantiornithines.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"90 ","pages":"Pages 103-122"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143928089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GeobiosPub Date : 2024-08-06DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.03.003
Abi Crane , Juan Benito , Albert Chen , Grace Musser , Christopher R. Torres , Julia A. Clarke , Stephan Lautenschlager , Daniel T. Ksepka , Daniel J. Field
{"title":"Taphonomic damage obfuscates interpretation of the retroarticular region of the Asteriornis mandible","authors":"Abi Crane , Juan Benito , Albert Chen , Grace Musser , Christopher R. Torres , Julia A. Clarke , Stephan Lautenschlager , Daniel T. Ksepka , Daniel J. Field","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.03.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.03.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>Asteriornis maastrichtensis</em>, from the latest Cretaceous of Belgium, is among the oldest known crown bird fossils, and its three-dimensionally preserved skull provides the most substantial insights into the cranial morphology of early crown birds to date. Phylogenetic analyses recovered <em>Asteriornis</em> as a total-group member of Galloanserae, the clade uniting Galliformes and Anseriformes. One important feature supporting this placement was enlargement of the retroarticular processes, which form elongate caudal extensions of the mandible in extant Galloanserae. Here, we reinterpret the jaw of <em>Asteriornis</em> and illustrate that the caudalmost portion of the mandibles are in fact not preserved. Instead, the caudal extremities of both the left and right mandibular rami extend to the surface of the fossil block containing the holotype skull, where they have eroded away. The originally identified retroarticular process of the right mandible – which exhibits a morphology and orientation strikingly similar to the retroarticular processes of certain extant and fossil galloanserans, including the early Palaeogene total-clade anseriforms <em>Conflicto</em> and <em>Nettapterornis</em> – instead represents a twisted and caudally displaced medial process. Nonetheless, anatomical comparisons with extant taxa reveal that we cannot exclude the possibility that <em>Asteriornis</em> exhibited robust retroarticular processes comparable to those of extant Galloanserae. In light of the reinterpreted morphology of the <em>Asteriornis</em> mandible, we update the original anatomical character matrix used to investigate its phylogenetic relationships and perform revised phylogenetic analyses, which continue to support <em>Asteriornis</em> as a total-group galloanseran, as initially interpreted. We demonstrate additional morphological traits of the mandible supporting this phylogenetic position and provide new data on the nature and distribution of retroarticular processes among early crown birds.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"90 ","pages":"Pages 31-43"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143928085","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GeobiosPub Date : 2024-08-06DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.03.002
Trevor H. Worthy , R. Paul Scofield , Vanesa L. De Pietri , Steven W. Salisbury , Werner Schwarzhans , Suzanne J. Hand , Michael Archer
{"title":"A synopsis of the Early Miocene St Bathans Fauna of New Zealand","authors":"Trevor H. Worthy , R. Paul Scofield , Vanesa L. De Pietri , Steven W. Salisbury , Werner Schwarzhans , Suzanne J. Hand , Michael Archer","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.03.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.03.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The St Bathans Fauna, from sites near the village of St Bathans, Central Otago, South Island, is the first substantive pre-Quaternary terrestrial vertebrate fossil fauna discovered in New Zealand. This fauna derives from 33 sites or discrete sedimentary beds located in the lower 50 m of the lacustrine Bannockburn Formation, Manuherikia Group, and is generally accepted as local stage Altonian (19–15.9 Ma; Burdigalian, Early Miocene) in age. Investigations since 2001 have revealed an abundant and diverse fauna from over 9000 catalogued lots that is herein reviewed. Invertebrates notably include eight genera and species of terrestrial molluscs. Among vertebrates, freshwater fish remains dominate with 17 species evidenced by 16,500 analysed otoliths (genera <em>Neochanna</em>, <em>Galaxias</em>, <em>Prototroctes</em>, and <em>Mataichthys</em>) and many thousands of bones. Birds (minimally 45 species, several thousand bones) are the most common non-fish vertebrates, among which waterfowls dominate all assemblages (10 species). Co-occurring with these was a diverse herpetofauna, including undetermined crocodylians and a terrestrial turtle, both absent in Recent faunas. Significantly, the St Bathans Fauna evidences that Zealandia already had all of New Zealand’s ‘old’ endemic Recent taxa (sphenodontids, leiopelmatids, dinornithiforms, apterygids, aptornithids, strigopoid parrots, acanthisittids, and mystacinids) during the Early Miocene. Furthermore, it includes Australasia’s oldest ardeids, two flightless rallids, a novel higher landbird family, a greater diversity of bats, and terrestrial mammals. All sites reflect a single fauna, except that the ducks <em>Manuherikia lacustrina</em> (stratigraphically lower in section) and <em>M. primadividua</em> (higher) have a mutually exclusive distribution that is not yet correlated with any other biotic distribution differences.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"90 ","pages":"Pages 163-178"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143928093","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GeobiosPub Date : 2024-08-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2023.12.010
George D. Koufos
{"title":"Updating the fauna and age of the Neogene-Quaternary large mammal sites of Greece","authors":"George D. Koufos","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2023.12.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2023.12.010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The Neogene-Quaternary continental deposits cover large areas of Greece and several fossil mammal sites have been discovered in the country. There are several collections of large fossil mammals for this time span, which provide important data for the fauna biochronology, correlations, palaeoecology and palaeogeography of the area. The last lists with the fauna, age and biochronology of the Greek large mammal localities were given in 2006 for the Neogene and in 2001 for the Quaternary. Extensive research over the last twenty years provided several new localities, and many data and information were published. Therefore, an updating of the lists was more than necessary, and the present article deals with it; it covers the time span untill June 2023. Lists include all faunal information as the systematic classification, chronology, biostratigraphic correlation of the faunas, and main bibliography. It is worth mentioning that some of the Greek localities are key-localities for the Eastern Mediterranean region, e.g., Pikermi, Axios Valley, Villafranchian collection. These faunas are important for the comparison and identification of new collections, correlations, palaeoecology, and palaeogeography of Neogene European mammals.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"85 ","pages":"Pages 35-57"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141699690","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GeobiosPub Date : 2024-08-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2023.12.008
Brigitte Meyer-Berthaud , Candys Bert , Anne-Laure Decombeix , Marion Lacand , Merlin Ramel , Ralph Thomas Becker , Christian Klug , Ahmed El Hassani , Abdelfatah Tahiri
{"title":"The euphyllophytes of a new Givetian plant assemblage from the eastern Anti-Atlas, Morocco","authors":"Brigitte Meyer-Berthaud , Candys Bert , Anne-Laure Decombeix , Marion Lacand , Merlin Ramel , Ralph Thomas Becker , Christian Klug , Ahmed El Hassani , Abdelfatah Tahiri","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2023.12.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2023.12.008","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span>The Middle Devonian is a transitional period for the first vascular plants, which acquire modern vegetative and reproductive structures, diversify considerably and, within the euphyllophytes, evolve the first representatives of modern plant groups, the monilophytes and lignophytes. However, the dynamics of this diversification across the different paleocontinents remains obscure, particularly within Gondwana. The upper Givetian locality of Oum el Jerane, in southeastern Morocco, has yielded a new assemblage of anatomically preserved plant remains whose description contributes to a better understanding of the floras of the northern margin of Gondwana during the Middle Devonian. The euphyllophytes include one iridopterid, </span><em>Arachnoxylon minor</em><span>, two cladoxylopsids, one of which represents the new genus </span><em>Jerana</em>, and two aneurophytales affiliated with the genus <em>Triloboxylon</em><span>. The cladoxylopsid remains from Oum el Jerane correspond to relatively small plants compared to the well-known coeval cladoxylopsids of Laurussia. Compared to the taxonomic composition of the four phytochoria recently defined for the Middle Devonian, the Oum el Jerane plant assemblage corresponds to the ‘subtropical’ phytochorion, which is close to the ‘Laurussia’ phytochorion, but which would correspond to drier environmental conditions.</span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"85 ","pages":"Pages 58-78"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141701658","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GeobiosPub Date : 2024-08-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.05.002
Davide Bassi , Yasufumi Iryu , Johannes Pignatti , Kazuhiko Fujita , Willem Renema
{"title":"Biogeographical patterns of the porcelaneous larger foraminifer Alveolinella quoyi through the integration of fossil data","authors":"Davide Bassi , Yasufumi Iryu , Johannes Pignatti , Kazuhiko Fujita , Willem Renema","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.05.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.05.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In the present-day Indo-Pacific coral-reef settings two genera of alveolinoidean porcelaneous larger benthic foraminifera (LBF) occur, namely <em>Alveolinella</em> and <em>Borelis</em>. <em>Alveolinella</em> is represented by a single species, <em>A. quoyi</em>, whose northernmost record is in Okinawa-jima (central Ryukyu Islands, Japan). Although the Indo-Pacific area, and especially the Coral Triangle, is a biodiversity hotspot since the Early Miocene, in-depth investigation on fossil representatives of present-day LBF is limited to a few taxa. To help bridge this knowledge gap, the palaeobiogeographical dynamics of <em>A. quoyi</em> is assessed. Analysis of data from the palaeontological literature shows that its first appearance datum is from the Tortonian (Late Miocene) of East Kalimantan and Papua New Guinea. In the Pliocene–Pleistocene the Indonesian Throughflow constrained the species within the Central Indo-Pacific. Finally, during the Late Pliocene the northward migrants arrived in the shallow-water carbonate settings of Okinawa-jima where the species is still thriving.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"85 ","pages":"Pages 1-9"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001669952400041X/pdfft?md5=7803f5f4015138bd39469e833fe9ef06&pid=1-s2.0-S001669952400041X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141690711","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GeobiosPub Date : 2024-08-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.05.001
Carlos Daniel Greppi , Magalí Potenzoni , Roberto R. Pujana , Maximiliano Naipauer , Leandro C.A. Martínez
{"title":"Conifer fossil woods from the Upper Cretaceous (Neuquén Group) of Mendoza Province, Argentina","authors":"Carlos Daniel Greppi , Magalí Potenzoni , Roberto R. Pujana , Maximiliano Naipauer , Leandro C.A. Martínez","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.05.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.05.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>An assemblage of four silicified woods from the Neuquén Group (Upper Cretaceous) collected in the Cara Cura Mountain Range, southwest of Mendoza Province, Argentina is described. The specimens are composed of secondary xylem, and the preservation varies among them. Two specimens were assigned to <em>Agathoxylon antarcticum</em> (Poole et Cantrill) Pujana et al., related to Araucariaceae. This fossil-species is characterized by its distinct growth ring boundaries, uni- to biseriate araucarian pitting on tracheid radial walls, and araucarioid cross-fields. Other specimens could not be assigned to a fossil-genus because of their poor preservation, but they show a conifer anatomy. The distinct growth ring boundaries of some specimens suggest annual seasonality. Additionally, the presence of small globose structures in areas of highly degraded secondary xylem is consistent with the erosion bacteria type observed in modern and fossil woods.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"85 ","pages":"Pages 25-34"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141696151","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GeobiosPub Date : 2024-08-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.02.001
{"title":"Biostratigraphic, palaeoenvironmental and palaeobiogeographic implications of bryozoan fauna from the Upper Devonian sequences of Armenia","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.02.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.02.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper presents the first contribution to the study of bryozoans from the Frasnian–lower Famennian successions of Armenia. The latter were examined in two distinct localities (Ertych and Noravank) of Central Armenia; abundant fragments of branched ramose and encrusting bryozoans were observed in them, belonging to the orders Trepostomata and Cryptostomata. Their taxonomic assessment led us to recognize four species: two cryptostomes – <em>Euthyrhombopora tenuis</em> <span><span>Ernst et al., 2017</span></span> and <em>Bigeyella indigena</em> (Morozova and Weiss in <span><span>Morozova et al., 2002</span></span>) from the Noravank section (Frasnian) – and two trepostomes – <em>Eostenopora</em> sp. and <em>Eridotrypella</em> sp. from the Ertych section (lower Famennian). No cystoporate and fenestrate bryozoans were observed. The identified bryozoans are characteristic of shallow marine or middle shelf paleoenvironments. The presence of <em>Euthyrhombopora tenuis</em> and <em>Bigeyella indigena</em> suggests palaeobiogeographic affinities to contemporary faunas from Iran and Poland, respectively. In addition to our results, an overview of previously published data reveals that the upper Famennian assemblages of bryozoans from the Lesser Caucasus contain more endemic species than those known from the Frasnian and the lowermost Famennian.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"85 ","pages":"Pages 10-18"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016699524000275/pdfft?md5=868faefc039504ec01d1221dd81ba90b&pid=1-s2.0-S0016699524000275-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141051451","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GeobiosPub Date : 2024-08-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2023.12.009
Pedro Piñero , Jordi Agustí , Hugues-Alexandre Blain , María Teresa Alberdi , Ángel Blanco Lapaz , Marc Furió
{"title":"A revisit to the Early Pliocene site of Abla (Guadix-Baza Basin, southern Spain)","authors":"Pedro Piñero , Jordi Agustí , Hugues-Alexandre Blain , María Teresa Alberdi , Ángel Blanco Lapaz , Marc Furió","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2023.12.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2023.12.009","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The Guadix-Baza Basin (southern Spain) displays one of the best continental records from the Late Miocene to the Middle Pleistocene in western Europe, with many localities of fossil small mammals in a quite complete and continuous stratigraphic sequence. The Late Miocene continentalization of the Guadix-Baza Basin was firstly mentioned in the 1980s based on the presumed presence of <em>Hipparion gromovae granatensis</em> at the site of Abla (Almería province). Subsequent discoveries of late Turolian deposits confirmed the Late Miocene continentalization of the basin. The interest in the Abla site led to a second sampling campaign to look for microvertebrate fossils, which proved successful. In this paper, a complete taxonomic study of the novel microvertebrate fauna from Abla is presented, providing updated information on the age of the locality. Representatives of the vertebrate families Cyprinidae, Alytidae, Anguidae, Soricidae, Cricetidae, and Muridae have been identified. The presence of <em>Stephanomys</em> specimens exceeding the size of latest Miocene-earliest Pliocene species allows us to correlate the Abla site with the Early Pliocene (Ruscinian), a younger age than initially stated. A qualitative paleoecological interpretation based on the herpetofauna suggests the dominance of open environments with presence of permanent water bodies during the deposition of the Abla site, under warmer and more humid climate conditions than today in the Guadix-Baza Basin. A revision of the <em>Hipparion</em> remains from this locality showed that the sample is closer to <em>Hipparion fissurae</em> than to the initially assigned species.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"85 ","pages":"Pages 79-89"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141714101","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
GeobiosPub Date : 2024-08-01DOI: 10.1016/j.geobios.2024.02.002
Steven M. Goodman , Harimanjaka A.M. Rasolonjatovo
{"title":"Description of the wing spur in the subfossil Malagasy lapwing, Vanellus madagascariensis (Aves: Charadriiformes, Charadriidae): Insights into some of its possible life history traits and why it is extinct","authors":"Steven M. Goodman , Harimanjaka A.M. Rasolonjatovo","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.02.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.02.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We report on a subfossil carpometacarpus of an extinct species of lapwing, <em>Vanellus madagascariensis</em>, restricted to Madagascar and inferred to be less than 3,000 years old. Lapwings, comprising 24 species in the New and Old World, are not recorded in the modern Malagasy avifauna. Members of this genus are often well-adapted to human induced habitat modifications. Material of this species has been recovered from three subfossil sites, each site with a single element, in the southwest of the island, including two humeri and a carpometacarpus. The carpal spur of <em>V. madagascariensis</em> was notably more developed than any living species of lapwing. It is presumed that these formidable armaments were employed to defend territories and hinder predation on nest contents and young. Large-scale desiccation in southwestern Madagascar starting about 3,000 years ago would have had a direct impact on local freshwater aquatic environments, in turn diminishing local habitat for this species, and ultimately leading to its extinction.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"85 ","pages":"Pages 19-24"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001669952400038X/pdfft?md5=c2c14c3c3b138556cc29bc5cfa71beb0&pid=1-s2.0-S001669952400038X-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141707958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}