Fossil Stone Shelduck (Tadorna petrina) and Shoveler (Spatula praeclypeata sp. nov.)—the Oldest Early Pleistocene Ducks (Aves: Anatidae) from Crimea
Н. В. Зеленков
Abstract
The oldest remains of anseriform birds for the Early Pleistocene of the Northern Black Sea region are described based on materials from the Taurida Cave (central part of the Crimean Peninsula, 1.9–1.5 Ma). A fragmentary skeleton of a shelduck (Tadornini) is attributed to the fossil stone shelduck Tadorna petrina Kurochkin, 1985, originally described from the Upper Pliocene of Transbaikalia and morphologically close to the modern Ruddy Shelduck T. ferruginea. This is the oldest find of the Ruddy Shelduck lineage in Europe, which sheds light on the paleobiogeographical distribution and evolution of these shelducks in the Late Cenozoic. Tadorna petrina is considered as the most likely stem representative of the clade, which includes the modern species T. ferruginea, T. cana, T. tadornoides, and T. variegata. The new fossil Shoveler Spatula praeclypeata sp. nov. from the Taurida Cave is the oldest find of this lineage in the fossil record and considered as a stem taxon of the living species S. smithii, S. rhynchotis, and S. clypeata. The faunal association of Ruddy Shelduck and Shoveler is characteristic of many Middle and Late Pleistocene avifaunas of Europe; Crimean finds confirm its more ancient and, probably, eastern origin.