The earliest Tyrannida (Aves, Passeriformes), from the Oligocene of France.

ABSTRACT: Passeriformes is the most diverse bird order. Nevertheless, passerines have a remarkably poor early fossil record. In addition, high osteological homoplasy across passerines makes partial specimens difficult to systematically assign precisely. Here we describe one of the few earliest fossil passerines, from the early Oligocene (ca 30 Ma) of southern France, and one of the best preserved and most complete. This fossil can be conservatively assigned to Tyrannida, a subclade of the New World Tyranni (Suboscines), i.e. of the Tyrannides. A most probably stem-representative of Tyrannida, the new fossil bears strong resemblance with some manakins (Pipridae), possibly due to plesiomorphy. Furthermore, it yields a new point of calibration for molecular phylogenies, already consistent with the age

SUBMITTER: Riamon S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7299954 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature