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The first Palaeogene galliform from Africa

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Abstract

An almost complete tarsometatarsus from the middle Eocene locality of Silica South, Sperrgebiet, Namibia, is attributed to the order Galliformes. This is the earliest record of the order in Africa. It belongs to a stem group galliform and differs from the Recent families. It is compared with Mesozoic birds from America, and Gallinuloididae, Quercymegapodiidae and Paraortygidae from Europe and the Americas. Because the specimen is an isolated bone, damaged proximally, we do not attribute it to a family, but it is clear that it represents a new genus and species of galliform bird, which we name Namaortyx sperrgebietensis.

Zusammenfassung

Ein nahezu vollständiger Tarsometatarsus aus der lutetischen Fundstelle Silica South, Sperrgebiet, Namibia, wird der Ordnung Galliformes zugeordnet. Das Fossil ist der älteste Nachweis dieser Ordnung in Afrika. Das Material wird mit mesozoischen Vögeln von Amerika verglichen sowie mit den Gallinuloididae, Quercymegapodiidae und Paraortygidae aus Europa und Amerika. Weil das Exemplar ein isolierter, proximal beschädigter Knochen ist, ordnen wir ihn nicht einer Familie zu, aber es ist offensichtlich, dass es eine neue Gattung und Art galliformer Vögel repräsentiert, die wir Namaortyx sperrgebietensis nennen.

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Acknowledgments

For the loan of comparative material we thank Christine Lefèvre from the Laboratoire d’Anatomie comparée of the Muséum national d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris. We thank the Geological Survey of Namibia (G. Schneider) and the Namibian National Monuments Council (E. Ndalikokule) for authorisation to conduct research in Namibia, and Namdeb (J.J. Jacob) for administrative and logistic help in the Sperrgebiet. Support was obtained from UMR 7207 CNRS and the Service de Coopération et d’action culturelle of the French Embassy at Windhoek. We thank G. Mayr and an anonymous referee for critical comments which improved this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université Lyon 1, Université de Lyon, 69622, Lyon, France

    Cécile Mourer-Chauviré

  2. UMR 5125 Paléoenvironnements et Paléobiosphère, CNRS, 2 rue Dubois, 69622, Villeurbanne Cedex, France

    Cécile Mourer-Chauviré

  3. Chaire d’évolution des climats et de l’océan, Collège de France, Paris, France

    Martin Pickford

  4. Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Département Histoire de la Terre, CNRS, UMR 7207, Case postale 38, 8, rue Buffon, 75005, Paris, France

    Martin Pickford & Brigitte Senut

Authors
  1. Cécile Mourer-Chauviré
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  2. Martin Pickford
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  3. Brigitte Senut
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Correspondence to Cécile Mourer-Chauviré.

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Communicated by F. Bairlein.

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Mourer-Chauviré, C., Pickford, M. & Senut, B. The first Palaeogene galliform from Africa. J Ornithol 152, 617–622 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-010-0630-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-010-0630-9

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