Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The world’s smallest owl, the earliest unambiguous charadriiform bird, and other avian remains from the early Eocene Nanjemoy Formation of Virginia (USA)

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
PalZ Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

New avian remains from the early Eocene Nanjemoy Formation in Virginia (USA) are described. The material stems from the Fisher/Sullivan site and consists of isolated bones. These belong to at least 13 species, most of which have not yet been reported from the Nanjemoy Formation. The fossil material includes the oldest unambiguous record of a charadriiform bird and a new species of protostrigid owl, which represents the smallest known owl species. Other specimens are tentatively assigned to the Procellariiformes, the suliform Fregatidae, the gruiform Messelornithidae, and the apodiform Eocypselidae. A complete and well-preserved tarsometatarsus of the psittacopasserine Halcyornithidae provides new data on the osteology of these enigmatic birds, and a distal tibiotarsus is tentatively assigned to the Trogoniformes. The identification of a number of fossils is uncertain, with the bones showing similarities to Threskiornithidae and extinct taxa from the early Eocene of Europe (Microena, Morsoravis). All bird fossils from the Nanjemoy Formation are three-dimensionally preserved and, therefore, allow a detailed assessment of osteological features, which complements studies of compression fossils from lagerstätten-type fossil sites.

Kurzfassung

Neue Vogelreste werden aus der untereozänen Nanjemoy-Formation in Virginia (USA) beschrieben. Das Material stammt aus der Fisher/Sullivan-Fundstelle und besteht aus Einzelknochen. Diese gehören zu mindestens 13 Arten, von denen die meisten noch nicht aus der Nanjemoy-Formation beschrieben wurden. Das Fossilmaterial beinhaltet den ältesten unzweifelhaften Nachweis eines charadriiformen Vogels und einen neuen Vertreter der Protostrigidae, welcher zudem die kleinste bekannte Eulenart darstellt. Andere Exemplare werden unter Vorbehalt zu den Procellariiformes gestellt, sowie zu den suliformen Fregatidae, den gruiformen Messelornithidae und den apodiformen Eocypselidae. Ein vollständiger und gut erhaltener Tarsometatarsus der Halcyornithidae (Psittacopasseres) liefert neue Daten über die Osteologie dieser rätselhaften Vögel und ein distaler Tibiotarsus wird unter Vorbehalt zu den Trogoniformes gestellt. Die Identifizierung einer Reihe von Fossilien ist unsicher und die Knochen weisen Ähnlichkeiten zu Threskiornithidae und ausgestorbenen Taxa aus dem europäischen Untereozän auf (Microena, Morsoravis). Alle Vogelfossilien der Nanjemoy-Formation sind dreidimensional erhalten und erlauben damit eine detaillierte Bewertung osteologischer Merkmale, welche Untersuchungen von Kompressionsfossilien aus lagerstättenartigen Fundstellen ergänzt.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • American Ornithologists’ Union. 1897. The code of nomenclature and check-list of North American birds, adopted by the American Ornithologists’ Union, being the report of the Committee of the Union on Classification and Nomenclature. New York: American Ornithologists’ Union.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ballmann, P. 2004. Fossil Calidridinae (Aves: Charadriiformes) from the Middle Miocene of the Nördlinger Ries. Bonner Zoologische Beiträge 52: 101–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baumel, J.J., and L.M.Witmer.1993. Osteologia. In Handbook of Avian Anatomy: Nomina Anatomica Avium, ed. J.J. Baumel, A.S. King, J.E. Breazile, H.E. Evans, and J.C. Vanden Berge. Publications of the Nuttall Ornithological Club 23: 45–132.

  • Berggren, W.A., Kent, D.V., Swisher, C.C., and Aubrey, M.-P. 1995. A revised Cenozoic geochronology and chronostratigraphy. In Geochronology, Time Scales and Global Stratigraphic Correlation, ed. W.A. Berggren, D.V. Kent, M.-P. Aubry, and J. Hardenbol. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Special Publication 54: 129–212.

  • Bertelli, S., B.E. Lindow, G.J. Dyke, and L.M. Chiappe. 2010. A well-preserved ‘charadriiform-like’ fossil bird from the Early Eocene Fur Formation of Denmark. Palaeontology 53: 507–531.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bertelli, S., L.M. Chiappe, and G. Mayr. 2011. A new Messel rail from the Early Eocene Fur Formation of Denmark (Aves, Messelornithidae). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 9: 551–562.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brasso, R.L., and S.D. Emslie. 2006. Two new late Pleistocene avifaunas from New Mexico. The Condor 108: 721–730.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brodkorb, P. 1971. Catalogue of fossil birds: part 4 (Columbiformes through Piciformes). Bulletin of the Florida State Museum Biological Sciences 15: 163–266.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Pietri, V.L., C. Mourer-Chauviré, U. Menkveld-Gfeller, C.A. Meyer, and L. Costeur. 2013. An assessment of the Cenozoic avifauna of Switzerland, with a description of two fossil owls (Aves, Strigiformes). Swiss Journal of Geosciences 106: 187–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Pietri, V.L., R.P. Scofield, N. Zelenkov, W.E. Boles, and T.H. Worthy. 2016. The unexpected survival of an ancient lineage of anseriform birds into the Neogene of Australia: the youngest record of Presbyornithidae. Royal Society Open Science 3(2): 150635.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Degland, C.D., and Z. Gerbe. 1867. Ornithologie européenne: ou catalogue descriptif, analytique et raisonné des oiseaux observés en Europe, vol. 2. Paris: J.B. Baillière et fils.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dyke, G.J., and J.H. Cooper. 2000. A new psittaciform bird from the London Clay (Lower Eocene) of England. Palaeontology 43: 271–285.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feduccia, A. 1999. The Origin and Evolution of Birds, 2nd ed. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fürbringer, M. 1888. Untersuchungen zur Morphologie und Systematik der Vögel, zugleich ein Beitrag zur Anatomie der Stütz- und Bewegungsorgane, vol. 2. Amsterdam: Van Holkema.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Grande, L. 2013. The Lost World of Fossil Lake. Snapshots from Deep Time. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, C.J.O. 1980. A small owl from the Lower Eocene of Britain. Tertiary Research 3: 83–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, C.J.O. 1984. A revision of the fossil swifts (Vertebrata, Aves, suborder Apodi), with descriptions of three new genera and two new species. Mededelingen van de Werkgroep voor Tertiaire en Kwartaire Geologie 21: 157–177.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, C.J.O., and C.A. Walker. 1977. Birds of the British Lower Eocene. Tertiary Research Special Paper 3: 1–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hesse, A. 1988. Die †Messelornithidae—eine neue Familie der Kranichartigen (Aves: Gruiformes: Rhynocheti) aus dem Tertiär Europas und Nordamerikas. Journal für Ornithologie 129: 83–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huxley, T.H. 1867. On the classification of birds; and on the taxonomic value of the modifications of certain of the cranial bones observable in that class. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1867: 415–472.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ksepka, D.T., J.A. Clarke, and L. Grande. 2011. Stem parrots (Aves, Halcyornithidae) from the Green River Formation and a combined phylogeny of Pan-Psittaciformes. Journal of Paleontology 85: 835–852.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ksepka, D.T., J.A. Clarke, S.J. Nesbitt, F.B. Kulp, and L. Grande. 2013. Fossil evidence of wing shape in a stem relative of swifts and hummingbirds (Aves, Pan-Apodiformes). Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences 280: 20130580.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kurochkin, E.N., and G.J. Dyke. 2011. The first fossil owls (Aves: Strigiformes) from the Paleogene of Asia and a review of the fossil record of Strigiformes. Paleontological Journal 45: 445–458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, G. 1998. A new family of Eocene zygodactyl birds. Senckenbergiana Lethaea 78: 199–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, G. 2002. On the osteology and phylogenetic affinities of the Pseudasturidae—Lower Eocene stem-group representatives of parrots (Aves, Psittaciformes). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 136: 715–729.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, G. 2007. The birds from the Paleocene fissure filling of Walbeck (Germany). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 27: 394–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, G. 2009. Paleogene fossil birds. Heidelberg: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, G. 2010. Reappraisal of Eocypselus—a stem group representative of apodiform birds from the early Eocene of Northern Europe. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 90: 395–403.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, G. 2011. On the osteology and phylogenetic affinities of Morsoravis sedilis (Aves) from the early Eocene Fur Formation of Denmark. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark 59: 23–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, G. 2015a. A reassessment of Eocene parrotlike fossils indicates a previously undetected radiation of zygodactyl stem group representatives of passerines (Passeriformes). Zoologica Scripta 44: 587–602.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, G. 2015b. New remains of the Eocene Prophaethon and the early evolution of tropicbirds (Phaethontiformes). Ibis 157: 54–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, G. 2016. Variations in the hypotarsus morphology of birds and their evolutionary significance. Acta Zoologica 97: 196–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, G. in press. The early Eocene birds of the Messel fossil site: a 48 million-year-old bird community adds a temporal perspective to the evolution of tropical avifaunas. Biological Reviews, doi:10.1111/brv.12274.

  • Mayr, G., and S. Bertelli. 2011. A record of Rhynchaeites (Aves, Threskiornithidae) from the early Eocene Fur Formation of Denmark, and the affinities of the alleged parrot Mopsitta. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 91: 229–236.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, G., and C. Mourer-Chauviré. 2005. A specimen of Parvicuculus Harrison and Walker 1977 (Aves: Parvicuculidae) from the early Eocene of France. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 125: 299–304.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, G., R.S. Rana, K.D. Rose, A. Sahni, K. Kumar, L. Singh, and T. Smith. 2010. Quercypsitta-like birds from the early Eocene of India (Aves,?Psittaciformes). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30: 467–478.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, G., and R.P. Scofield. 2016. New avian remains from the Paleocene of New Zealand: the first early Cenozoic Phaethontiformes (tropicbirds) from the Southern Hemisphere. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 36: e1031343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mourer-Chauviré, C. 1983. Minerva antiqua (Aves, Strigiformes), an owl mistaken for an edentate mammal. American Museum Novitates 2773: 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mourer-Chauviré, C. 1995. The Messelornithidae (Aves: Gruiformes) from the Paleogene of France. Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg 181: 95–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olson, S.L. 1977. A Lower Eocene frigatebird from the Green River Formation of Wyoming (Pelecaniformes: Fregatidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology 35: 1–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olson, S.L. 1999. Early Eocene birds from eastern North America: A faunule from the Nanjemoy Formation of Virginia. In Early Eocene vertebrates and plants from the Fisher/Sullivan site (Nanjemoy Formation) Stafford County, Virginia, ed. R.E. Weems, and G.J. Grimsley. Virginia Division of Mineral Resources Publication 152: 123–132.

  • Olson, S.L., and H. Matsuoka. 2005. New specimens of the early Eocene frigatebird Limnofregata (Pelecaniformes: Fregatidae), with the description of a new species. Zootaxa 1046: 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, J.L. 1940. Check-list of birds of the world, vol. 4. Cambridge: Museum of Comparative Zoology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rich, P.V. 1982. Tarsometatarsus of Protostrix from the mid-Eocene of Wyoming. The Auk 99: 576–579.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharpe, R.B. 1891. A review of recent attempts to classify birds. Budapest: Second International Ornithological Congress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, N.D. 2010. Phylogenetic analysis of Pelecaniformes (Aves) based on osteological data: implications for waterbird phylogeny and fossil calibration studies. PLoS One 5(10): e13354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steadman, D.W. 1981. Review of Harrison and Walker 1976c, 1977. The Auk 98: 205–207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stidham, T.A. 2015. A new species of Limnofregata (Pelecaniformes: Fregatidae) from the Early Eocene Wasatch Formation of Wyoming: implications for palaeoecology and palaeobiology. Palaeontology 58: 239–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suh, A., M. Paus, M. Kiefmann, G. Churakov, F.A. Franke, J. Brosius, J.O. Kriegs, and J. Schmitz. 2011. Mesozoic retroposons reveal parrots as the closest living relatives of passerine birds. Nature Communications 2: 443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wagler, J.G. 1830. Natürliches System der Amphibien: mit vorangehender Classification der Säugethiere und Vögel: ein Beitrag zur vergleichenden Zoologie. München: J.G. Cotta’sche Buchhandlung.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Weems, R.E., and G.J. Grimsley. 1999. Introduction, geology, and paleogeographic setting. In Early Eocene vertebrates and plants from the Fisher/Sullivan site (Nanjemoy Formation) Stafford County, Virginia, eds. R.E. Weems, and G.J. Grimsley. Virginia Division of Mineral Resources Publication 152: 1–10.

  • Wetmore, A. 1933. The status of Minerva antiqua, Aquila ferox and Aquila lydekkeri as fossil birds. American Museum Novitates 680: 1–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zvonok, E., G. Mayr, and L. Gorobets. 2015. New material of the Eocene Kievornis Averianov et al. 1990 and a reassessment of the affinities of this taxon. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 53: 238–244.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I am indebted to Marco Gulotta for collecting the specimens described in the present study and for generously donating them to SMF. I further thank Sven Tränkner (SMF) for taking the photographs. Comments by P. Scofield and the editor, Mike Reich, improved the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Ornithological Section, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Gerald Mayr

Authors
  1. Gerald Mayr
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gerald Mayr.

Additional information

Handling editor: Mike Reich.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mayr, G. The world’s smallest owl, the earliest unambiguous charadriiform bird, and other avian remains from the early Eocene Nanjemoy Formation of Virginia (USA). PalZ 90, 747–763 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-016-0330-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-016-0330-8

Keywords

Schlüsselwörter

Search

Navigation