Spatula praeclypeata lived in the Northern Black Sea region between 1.9 and 1.5 million years ago.
Spatula praeclypeata is a stem taxon of the living species Spatula smithii (depicted here). Image credit: C.G. Finch-Davies.
The newly-described bird species belong to Spatula, a genus of ducks in the family Anatidae that includes living and extinct shovelers, garganey, and American teals.
Scientifically named Spatula praeclypeata, it lived during the Early Pleistocene epoch, between 1.9 and 1.5 million years ago.
“Spatula praeclypeata is the oldest find of this lineage in the fossil record,” explained Dr. Nikita Zelenkov, a researcher at the Borissiak Paleontological Institute.
“The new species is a stem taxon of the living species Spatula smithii, Spatula rhynchotis, and Spatula clypeata.”
The fossil of Spatula praeclypeata was found in Taurida Cave, near the village of Zuya, Crimea, Ukraine.
“In the Northern Black Sea region, Early Pleistocene birds are known from several localities in the southern part of Ukraine (e.g., Nogaisk, Kairy, and Tikhonovka 2), dated mainly to the second half of the Calabrian age, 1.2 to 0.77 million years ago,” Dr. Zelenkov said.
“Older bird communities, which are of significant value for the reconstruction of the evolution of Late Cenozoic avifaunas of the region, are only represented by taxonomically poor and very poorly studied assemblages from the Kryzhanovka (environs of Odessa) and Tarkhankut (northwestern Crimea) localities.”
“Therefore, the discovery of a rich locality of Early Pleistocene vertebrates in Taurida Cave in the central Crimea in 2018 is of great importance.”
“The fauna of Taurida Cave includes a significant diversity of birds, which is currently actually the only source of information about the ecological and evolutionary appearance of the avifauna of the Northern Black Sea region in the Calabrian,” he added.
“Previously, a species of giant ostrich, Pachystruthio dmanisensis, was described from Taurida Cave; several other bird species were also recorded in this locality.”
In addition to Spatula praeclypeata, Dr. Zelenkov found the fossilized partial skeleton of a previously known species of stone shelduck, Tadorna petrina, in Taurida Cave.
“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,” he said.
“Tadorna petrina was originally described in 1985 from the Upper Pliocene of Transbaikalia and is morphologically close to the modern ruddy shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea).”
“The predominance of open savanna-like landscapes is characteristic of the environs of Taurida Cave,” he added.
“At the same time, whereas shoveler currently inhabits various habitats in the temperate zone of Eurasia, including steppes, shelducks in natural conditions are inhabitants of exclusively arid meadows and steppe sites.”
“The older appearance of the recorded avifaunal association in southeastern Europe suggests its eastern origin.”
Source: sci.news
