Abstract
A very large alledged bustard, Otis hellenica (Boev et al. in Geol Balc 42:59–64, 2013), described from the Late Miocene of the continental Greece, is reinterpreted here as a member of Ergilornithinae (family Eogruidae), an extinct taxon of large cursorial gruiform birds convergently similar to ostriches. This is the western-most find of Ergilornithinae and the first documentation of this taxon in the continental Europe outside the territory of the former Soviet Union (Ukraine and Moldova). The Greek find is similar in size to coeval Urmiornis ukrainus from the northern Black Sea region, but is morphologically closer to the Early Miocene and even Paleogene Asian members of this group. This implies that the Balkan Peninsula was inhabited by a primitive lineage of Ergilornithinae in the Late Miocene, with less pronounced cursorial adaptations.
Kurzfassung
Eine sehr große mutmaßliche Trappe, O. hellenica (Boev et al. in Geol Balc 42:59–64, 2013), die aus dem oberen Miozän Kontinental-Griechenlands beschrieben wurde, wird hier nach einer Revision den Ergilornithinae (Familie Eogruidae) zugeordnet. Dieses ausgestorbene Taxon großer Laufvögeln entwickelte konvergent eine straußenartige Morphologie. Dies ist der westlichste Fund der Ergilornithinae und der erste Nachweis dieses Taxons in Kontinentaleuropa, außerhalb dem Gebiet der früheren Sowjetunion (Ukraine und Moldavien). Der griechische Fund ähnelt bezüglich seiner Größe der gleichzeitig lebenden Art Urmiornis ukrainus aus dem nördlichen Balkangebiet, aber morphologisch steht es frühmiozänen und sogar paläogenen asiatischen Ergilornithinae näher. Das zeigt, daß die Balkan-Halbinsel im späten Miozän von einer ursprünglichen Linie der Ergilornithinae bewohnt war, welche weniger ausgeprägte Laufanpassungen aufwies.
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Acknowledgments
The laboratory work by NVZ was supported by a grant from the Russian Foundation of Basic Research (Project 14-04-01223). The authors are indebted to Dr. Gerald Mayr for the German translation of the abstract. NVZ further thanks Dr. Leonid Gorobets for assistance and access to fossil specimens in the collection of the National Museum of Natural History (Kiev, Ukraine). The authors further thank G. Mayr and an anonymous reviewer for valuable comments.
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Zelenkov, N., Boev, Z. & Lazaridis, G. A large ergilornithine (Aves, Gruiformes) from the Late Miocene of the Balkan Peninsula. Paläontol Z 90, 145–151 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-015-0279-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-015-0279-z