The first Cenozoic fossil bird from Venezuela

Abstract

The first Cenozoic avian remains from Venezuela are described. The material comprises an associated right tarsometatarsus and tibiotarsus from the earliest Pliocene of the Codore Formation, northwestern Venezuela. The fossil-bearing horizon represents a deltaic paleoenvironment. The elements are long and narrow, and the presence of a circular incisura intercondylaris bordered proximally by a prominent and centrally-situated tuberculum m. tibialis anticus on the tibiotarsus, allows confident referral to the Ciconiidae (storks). The elements are a close match in morphology and size to the extant Jabiru mycteria (Jabiru Stork), although the presence on the distal tibiotarsus of a well-defined caudal sulcus, a narrower sulcus extensorius and shallower angled pons supratendineus, and on the tarsometatarsus of a narrower and deeper sulcus on the plantar surface and a less prominent ridge laterally bordering the fossa supratrochlearis plantaxis indicate that this is a new species, Jabiru codorensis n. sp. Jabiru mycteria, the only living species, still occurs in Venezuela, where it is found mostly in grassy wetlands. These specimens represent the first fossil record of Jabiru, as well as the first pre-Pleistocene record of fossil birds from Venezuela. © 2008 E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung.