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222 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO PALEOBIOLOGY tion of the Sandcoleiformes. It is my impression that they probably could be combined with the Coliiformes. The taxonomic definition of the latter is founded on the features of a small group of very similar species, and the resultant narrowness of the taxonomic definition makes it unduly difficult to include new taxa with the Coliiformes. There are, however, substantial similarities between sandcoleids and colies, and Selmes adds to these similarities (intemasal septum, distal end of tarsometarsus). But because I have not seen the original material of most sandcoleiform species, these considerations should be taken only as suggestions. The new species undoubtedly was a highly specialized bird. Houde and Olson (1992:143) emphasized that the pedal phalanges in Sandcoleidae are "extremely short" and they figured as an example the foot of Anneavis anneae Houde and Olson (1992). In Selmes the phalanges are even more shortened. Whereas in Anneavis all phalanges are longer than broad, in Selmes the proximal phalanges of toes II, III, and IV are broader than long. In the latter the tarsometatarsus is markedly longer than the longest toe, and toes III and IV are of almost equal length. In Anneavis, toe III is the longest by far Baumel, J.J., A.S. King, J.E. Breazile, H.E. Evans, and J.C. Vanden Berge, editors 1993. Handbook of Avian Anatomy: Nomina Anatomica Avium. Publications of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, 23: second edition, xxiv+779 pages. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Nuttall Ornithological Club. Houde, P., and S.L. Olson 1992. A Radiation of Coly-like Birds from the Eocene of North America (Aves: Sandcoleiformes New Order). In K.E. Campbell, Jr., editor, Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring Pierce Brodkorb. Science Literature Cited and equals the tarsometatarsus in length. It is hard to imagine how Selmes used its feet. Inferring from the construction of the toes, which is closest to that of swifts, it could only cling to more or less sloping surfaces. Perching would seem to have been nearly impossible; but, why are the toes so short and the rest of the leg comparatively long? As yet, there is no answer. Maybe the identification of the seeds will shed some light on the behavior of this remarkable bird. KURZFASSUNG Selmes absurdipes, n. gen., n. sp., wird auf der Beschreibung zweier fossiler Vogel von Messel begriindet. Das wichtigste Kennzeichen der neuen Gattung ist der pamprodactyle FuB mit ungewohnlich kurzen Zehen, aber verhaltnismaBig langem Tarsometatarsus und Tibiotarsus. Die Sandcoleiformes waren nicht auf Nordamerika beschrankt und entwickelten eine beachtliche morphologische Radiation. Moglicherweise sollten Sandcoleiformes und Coliiformes vereinigt werden. Series, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 36: 137-160, 21 figures, 2 plates. Peters, D.S. 1991. Zoogeographical Relationships of the Eocene Avifauna from Messel (Germany). In Acta XX Congressus Internationalis Ornithologici, 1:572-577. Wellington, New Zealand: Ornithological Congress Trust Board. 1992. Messel Birds: A Land-Based Assemblage. In S. Schaal and W. Ziegler, editors, Messel: An Insight into the History of Life and of the Earth, pages 135-151, figures 198-218. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
A Fossil Screamer (Anseriformes: Anhimidae) from the Middle Tertiary of Southeastern Brazil ABSTRACT A new genus and species of anhimid is described based on 14 fragmentary, partially associated bones collected from the shales of the Tremembe Formation of the Taubate basin in southeastern Brazil. The age of this formation is either upper Oligocene or lower Miocene. An isolated, almost complete left coracoid was chosen as the holotype. This bird, the first paleospecies described for the family Anhimidae, was smaller and more gracile than Chauna chavaria (Linnaeus), the smallest species of living screamers. Introduction The screamers (Anseriformes: Anhimidae) are distinguished from the more widespread family Anatidae by the narrow, downwardly hooked bill lacking filtering fringes, long legs, and large, unwebbed feet with strong hind toes. The skeleton of anhimids is very noticeably pneumatized. There are three modem species of screamers in two genera, Anhima cornuta (Linnaeus), Chauna chavaria (Linnaeus), and C. torquata (Oken), all of which are endemic to South America. There are no fossil species described for this family (Olson, 1985), but undescribed fossils of possible screamers are known from the early Eocene of Wyoming and England (S.L. Olson, pers. comm., 1995). In the present study, a new genus and species of anhimid is described, the first record for this family in the Tertiary of South America. The Tremembe Formation, in the town of the same name in the Taubate basin of southeastern Brazil (Figure 1), is a lacustrine deposit of small extent. The sediments are composed of alternate layers of thinly foliated bituminous shales, 6 to 10 meters thick, and an almost homogeneous montmorillonitic Herculano M.F. Alvarenga Herculano M.F. Alvarenga, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociencias, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Caixa Postal 11294, Sao Paulo-SP, 05422-970 Brazil. 223 clay of about the same thickness (Figure 2). Both of these layers have produced a large diversity of fossil vertebrates, including representatives of six families of birds (Alvarenga, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1995). The age of the Tremembe Formation is either upper Oligocene or lower Miocene, as discussed by Soria and Alvarenga (1989), Alvarenga (1990), and Vucetich etal. (1993). The presence of flamingos, such as Palaelodus and Agnopterus (Alvarenga, 1990), a cathartid vulture (Alvarenga, 1985), and a large number of small fossil fishes and Crustacea suggest the interpretation of the site as an old lake of shallow, alkaline water. Some large and small mammals (Soria and Alvarenga, 1989; Vucetich et al., 1993) and a large phorusrhacid (Alvarenga, 1982) also are known from these sediments. MATERIALS AND METHODS.—Among the birds described from the Tremembe Formation, some specimens were found articulated in the shales, whereas others, in the layer of montmorillonitic clay, often occurred as fragmented and dissociated bones, which caused some difficulties in relegating them to a particular taxon. The fossils described herein were collected by the author from the montmorillonitic clay on different occasions from 1978 to 1993. They belong to at least three individuals, all identified as anhimids of a size compatible with that of a single species. The bones were compared with those of skeletons of almost all families of birds, especially Anhimidae {Chauna chavaria, C. torquata, Anhima cornuta), Anatidae {Anseranas semipalmata (Latham)), and some Gruidae, including Grus, Balearica, and Anthropoides. The single skeleton of Chauna chavaria used in this study was obtained on loan from the National Museum of Natural History (USNM; collections of the former United States National Museum), Smithsonian Institution, and all others are from the author's collection (HA). Anatomical terminology follows that of Howard (1929) and Baumel et al. (1979), although I also follow Olson (1987) in using the term "procoracoid foramen" in the description of the coracoid. The fossil specimens herein described are housed in the Vertebrate Paleontology collection of Museu Nacional da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (MNRJ), Brazil.
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SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO PALEOB
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ABSTRACT Olson, Storrs L., editor.
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EARLY WATERFOWL (ANSERIFORMES) AND
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localities, all of them situated in
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Bone of Sus scrofa Linnaeus, introd
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duboisi are larger than the largest
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8 iver (1897) but afterward were tr
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16 Cor. Hum. Uln. Cpm. Fern. Tbt. T
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34 ability in such a way that it ca
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42 2km SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO
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Site 13 Research Base ENTRANCE Lowe
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Comparison of Paleoecological Patte
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NUMBER 89 69 TABLE 1.—Vertebrate
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NUMBER 89 71 Mallorca, probably in
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NUMBER 89 Alcover, J.A. 1989. Les a
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The History of the Chatham Islands'
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NUMBER 89 87 Species Common Name Pe
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NUMBER 89 89 NZA 797,1930,1934 Unco
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NUMBER 89 91 anoramphus spp.), Chat
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NUMBER 89 93 TABLE 2.—Land snails
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NUMBER 89 95 counterparts, with som
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NUMBER 89 population, if such exist
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NUMBER 89 99 FIGURE 11.—Skulls of
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NUMBER 89 101 FIGURE 13.—Lower ma
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NUMBER 89 the Chatham Island Pied O
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NUMBER 89 Locality 9, Western Maung
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NUMBER 89 107 yellowish sand (site
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NUMBER 89 109 ogy. Notornis, supple
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112 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO PA
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The Middle Pleistocene Avifauna of
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NUMBER 89 Accordi, B. 1962. La grot
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130 FIGURE 1.—Map showing locatio
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132 Cranium Mandibula Scapula Clavi
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Seabirds and Late Pleistocene Marin
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NUMBER 89 141 METHODS Only strictly
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NUMBER 89 151 FIGURE 10.—Area of
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NUMBER 89 153 FIGURE 12.—Area of
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NUMBER 89 155 the period studied. T
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NUMBER 89 157 Walker, C.A., G.M. Wr
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164 Vl 620 M 570 £ 520 S 470f •
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166 birds, such as the two species
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170 cional Autonoma de Mexico, for
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274 America. Science, 214(4526): 12
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276 concerning the amphicoelous str
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278 ment of the radius that are con
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280 The left coracoid is represente
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284 Kurochkin, E.N. 1982. [New Orde
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288 Palaeontological Institute. [Sp
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290 1991). In this paper we use a "
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Implantation and Replacement of Bir
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NUMBER 89 297 saurs (Figure 1E-G).
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NUMBER 89 299 would seem unlikely a
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Humeral Rotation and Wrist Supinati
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NUMBER 89 303 apparent. It is now c
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NUMBER 89 305 FIGURE 3.—Dorsal vi
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Early Evolution of Birds: Roundtabl
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338 evolved independently twice." M
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