Combined phylogenetic analysis of a new North American fossil species confirms widespread Eocene distribution for stem rollers (Aves, Coracii)

Authors: CLARKE, JULIA A.; KSEPKA, DANIEL T.; SMITH, N. ADAM; NORELL, MARK A.

Source: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 157, Number 3, November 2009 , pp. 586-611(26)

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Abstract:

We report a nearly complete skeleton of a new species of stem roller (Aves, Coracii) from the early Eocene Green River Formation of North America. The new species is most closely related to two species-depauperate lineages, Coraciidae (rollers) and Brachypteraciidae (ground rollers), that form a monophyletic crown clade (Coracioidea) with an exclusively Old World extant distribution. Phylogenetic analysis utilizing a matrix of 133 morphological characters and sequence data from three genes (RAG-1, c-myc, and ND2) identifies the new species as a stem member of the Coracii more closely related to the crown clade than the only previously identified New World taxon, Primobucco mcgrewi. The phylogenetic placement of the new species and Primobucco mcgrewiindicates a widespread northern hemisphere distribution in the Eocene with subsequent restriction to Africa, Madagascar, Australia, and temperate to tropical parts of Europe and Asia. It provides evidence of further ecological diversity in early stem Coracii and convergence on crown morphologies. The new species contributes to mounting evidence that extant distributions for major avian subclades may be of comparatively recent origin. Further late Palaeogene sampling is needed to elucidate potential drivers for shifting avian distributions and disappearance of Coracii from North America.

© 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 157, 586-611.

Keywords: avian evolution; biogeography; Cenozoic; combined analysis; Green River Formation; phylogeny

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00550.x

Affiliations: 1: Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, USA

Publication date: 2009-11-01

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