A hoatzin fossil from the middle Miocene of Kenya documents the past occurrence of modern-type Opisthocomiformes in Africa

Mayr, Gérald

doi:10.1642/auk-13-134.1

Cited by 12 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 19 publications

(24 reference statements)

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“…Although herbivore enamel isotopic values do not indicate the presence of C 4 grass (Arney et al 2022), its abundance in the diets of Maboko herbivores may be too low to detect. Of the fifteen bird taxa identified in Bed 5w, ten are aquatic (cormorants, bitterns, pelicans, storks, flamingos, herons, lily-trotters, ducks, gulls and river kingfishers) indicating the presence of lakes, rivers, marshes or swamps (Retallack et al 2002;Mayr 2014a); one is a hoatzin typically associated with flooded forest (Mayr 2014b); and three others (bustards, hornbills, and houbaras) suggest proximity to open woodland or savanna (Retallack et al 2002;Mayr 2014a,b;McCrossin & Benefit 2016). The presence of the gastropod Limicolaria in the stratum reflects a seasonal pattern of rainfall during the time it was deposited (Pickford 1995;Retallack et al 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bovidae (Mammalia) from the early Middle Miocene of Maboko, Kenya

2023

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We describe here the Bovidae from the early Middle Miocene site of Maboko, Kenya, known for its rich and highly diverse assemblage of Primates. They are attributed to two taxa of slightly different sizes, Turcocerus africanus n.sp. and Kubanotragus pickfordi. In addition to Kenya, Turcocerus ranges through the Middle Miocene from Turkey to China; it might have originated in Africa but the lack of precise dating weakens any phylogeographic hypothesis.Kubanotragus has similar chronological and geographic ranges. Both Maboko species retain primitively low levels of hypsodonty compared to their northern relatives and may have been less specialized for grazing than Eurasian taxa. The Maboko Bovidae illustrate an early diversification of the family in Africa that appears to pre-date the major diversification of Bovidae and appearance of the diverse clades that are characteristic of modern African pecoran faunas.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bovidae (Mammalia) from the early Middle Miocene of Maboko, Kenya

2023

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“…The hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin), the only extant species of the order Opisthocomiformes, is a folivorous bird endemic to riverine floodplains in the Amazonian region (Winkler et al 2020). However, fossils of modern-type Opisthocomiformes are known also from Europe and Africa and the hoatzin lineage may even originate in the Old World (Mayr 2014;Mayr & De Pietri 2014). The bird presents some unique characteristics, including wing claws in chicks and foregut fermentation, which make its systematic relationships to other birds difficult to determine.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unusual parasite from an enigmatic host – a new group of mites infesting feather quills of the hoatzin

Skoracki

Kosicki

Hromada

2020

The European Zoological Journal

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Hoatzin, a unique species endemic to Neotropics, has puzzled avian systematists since it was described 244 years ago. Despite its enigmatic origin and unparalleled life cycle, behavior, and mode of life, its parasites only occasionally were investigated. In this study, a new species Calamicoptes hoazinus n. sp. (Laminosioptidae: Fainocoptinae) was described, based on females found in the quill-wall of the primary feather of the hoatzin Opisthocomus hoazin (Statius Muller) (Opisthocomiformes: Opisthocomidae). Following on this we also constructed the key to all known species of the genus Calamicoptes. Importantly, our finding represents the first record of the family Laminosioptidae from the opisthocomiform bird and the first record of this mite family in the Neotropical realm. Scarce records of parasite-host interactions in this group, missing molecular data, and the absence of any phylogenetic study allows only to speculate about evolutionary events leading to observed distribution on the extant Neornithian host tree.

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“…Its phylogenetic affinities remain unresolved, and even the most recent analyses of molecular data did not result in a consistent and strongly supported placement in the avian phylogenetic tree [Hughes and Baker, 1999;Sorenson et al, 2003;Ericson et al, 2006;Hackett et al, 2008;Kimball et al, 2013;McCormack et al, 2013]. To make things more complicated, a new fossil found in Kenya seems to be related to the hoatzin and may represent an essentially modern-type Opisthocomiformes in the Miocene of Africa [Mayr, 2014].…”

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confidence: 99%

The Karyotype of the Hoatzin (<b><i>Opisthocomus hoazin</i></b>) - A Phylogenetic Enigma of the Neornithes

Santos¹,

Furo²,

Tagliarini³

et al. 2018

Cytogenet Genome Res

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The hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin Müller, 1776) is a folivorous bird, endemic to the Amazonian region. It presents some unique characteristics, including wing claws and foregut fermentation, which make its phylogenetic relationship to other birds difficult to determine. There have been various attempts to place it among the Galliformes, Gruiformes, Musophagiformes, Cuculiformes, and Charadriiformes, but phylogenetic analyses always show low supporting values. Nowadays, the hoatzin is included in the monotypic order Opisthocomiformes, but the relationship of this order to other groups of birds is still unclear. Although its karyotype resembles the typical avian model, fissions of the syntenic groups corresponding to chicken chromosomes 1 and 2 and 2 fusions were found. The presence of 18S rDNA clusters in 2 pairs of microchromosomes is another derived character. Hence, different rearrangements were detected in the karyotype of the hoatzin, indicating it has been derived from the putative ancestral karyotype by the occurrence of fissions and fusions. However, as these rearrangements are not exclusive to O. hoazin, they do not clarify the phylogenetic position of this enigmatic species.

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A hoatzin fossil from the middle Miocene of Kenya documents the past occurrence of modern-type Opisthocomiformes in Africa

Cited by 12 publications

References 19 publications

Bovidae (Mammalia) from the early Middle Miocene of Maboko, Kenya

Bovidae (Mammalia) from the early Middle Miocene of Maboko, Kenya

Unusual parasite from an enigmatic host – a new group of mites infesting feather quills of the hoatzin

The Karyotype of the Hoatzin (<b><i>Opisthocomus hoazin</i></b>) - A Phylogenetic Enigma of the Neornithes

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