A revision of the Lari (Aves, Charadriiformes) from the early Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy (Allier, France)

An assessment of the diversity of early Miocene Scolopaci (Aves, Charadriiformes) from Saint‐Gérand‐le‐Puy (Allier, France)

“…Because the best part of the material, at least in NMB, comes from Montaigu (MN2), we consider it as being of an early Miocene age. We, nevertheless, point out that in many instances the exact provenience of the material is uncertain, and thus a late Oligocene age for part of the material cannot be excluded (De Pietri et al . 2011).…”

“…T he Aquitanian (MN2) lacustrine deposits from the collective localities known as Saint‐Gérand‐le‐Puy in central France have yielded several taxa of charadriiform birds. Most abundantly represented among these are the Laricolidae, an extinct family of basal laromorphs whose fossil record was recently revised (De Pietri et al . 2011).…”

“…Despite the fact that the fossil material is too incomplete to allow for inclusion in a formal phylogenetic analysis, some previously overlooked osteological features of scolopacid birds warrant at least the posing of plausible hypotheses concerning the phylogenetic placement of these fossil birds. Additionally, we introduce three new species of scolopacids, remarking that, as in the case of the Laromorphae (De Pietri et al . 2011), the early Miocene diversity of Scolopaci from the locality of Saint‐Gérand‐le‐Puy has been underestimated.…”

“…The incomplete humeri (MNHN Av. 9430–9435) belong to the extinct laromorph genus Laricola (De Pietri et al . 2011), with the exception of MNHN Av.…”

The enigmaticIbidopodiafrom the early Miocene of France—the first Neogene record of Cariamiformes (Aves) in Europe

“…Fossil birds from the late Oligocene-early Miocene of the Allier basin (Saint-G erand-le-Puy area) in central France have been known since the 19th century (e.g., Milne-Edwards, 1863, 1867-1871. Most birds from these localities already at that time closely resembled their extant relatives, although recent research has shown that many occupy basal, i.e., early diverging, positions within their respective clades (e.g., Worthy and Lee, 2008;De Pietri et al, 2011a, 2011bWorthy, 2011). A notable exception is Ibidopodia palustris Milne-Edwards, 1868 (issued in parts), which has remained an enigmatic bird of uncertain affinities.…”