Pigeons, sandgrouse, cuckoos, nightjars, rollers, bee-eaters, kingfishers and swifts in the european fossil avifauna and their osteological characteristics

Abstract

In the article, the author describes the presence of fossil records of the pigeons (Ord. Columbiformes, Fam. Columbidae), sandgrouse (Ord. Pteroclidiformes, Fam. Pteroclididae), cuckoos (Ord. Cu-culiformes, Fam. Cuculidae), nightjars (Ord. Caprimulgiformes, Fam. Caprimulgidae), rollers (Ord. Coraciiformes, Fam. Coraciidae), bee-eaters (Ord. Coraciiformes, Fam. Meropidae), (Ord. Coraciiformes, Fam. Upu-pidae), kingfishers (Ord. Coraciiformes, Fam. Alcedinidae) and swifts (Ord. Apodiformes, Fam. Apodidae) in Europe, particularly the Carpathian Basin, during the Tertiary and Quaternary, as well as their osteological characteristics. These orders generally contain a small number of species in Europe, most of them consisting of ther-mophilic, migratory species. Their fossil and subfossil remains provide precious information about the climatic conditions of their respective areas of origin. The text is supplemented by 15 figures and 2 tables.