Catharacta sp.

Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile & Geraads, Denis, 2010, The Upper Pliocene Avifauna of Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco. Systematics and Biogeography, Records of the Australian Museum 62 (1), pp. 157-184 : 174

Catharacta sp. cf. C. skua Brünnich, 1764

Fig. 5I

Material. Right humerus, distal part and shaft, AaO-4793.

Measurements (in mm): distal width, 18.7; distal depth, 11.5; width of shaft in the middle, 8.5; depth of shaft in the middle, 7.5.

This humerus is morphologically similar to that of the Recent species Catharacta skua , and its dimensions agree with that of a Recent specimen from the Paris MNHN as well as with those given by Olson & Rasmussen (2001) for the Recent forms. A Catharacta sp. , the size of Catharacta skua or C. maccormicki , has been reported from the Lee Creek Mine, coming probably from the Yorktown Formation (Olson & Rasmussen, 2001). In Florida , the locality of Richardson Road Shell Mine, dating to 2.4–2.0 Ma, has yielded a coracoid of a Stercorarius sp. , intermediate in size between the Recent species of the genus Catharacta and the Recent species of the genus Stercorarius ( Emslie, 1995) . At the present time the Great Skua breeds mainly on islands in the North Atlantic and winters on the continental shelf, on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and in Western Mediterranean, young individuals reaching Cape Verde Islands and Brazil (del Hoyo et al., 1996).

Figures

Figure 5. Otis sp. size Otis tarda, A–B: (A) right ulna, proximal part, AaO-766, cranial view: (B) right ulna, distal part, AaO-767, ventral view.Chlamydotis sp. cf. C. mesetaria, C–E: (C) right tarsometatarsus, proximal part and shaft,AaO-2644, caudal view; (D) idem, cranial view; (E) idem, proximal view. cf. Lophotis sp., F–G: (F) right coracoid, almost complete,AaO-768, dorsal view; (G) idem, ventral view. (H) Columba sp. cf. C. pisana, right humerus, distal part and shaft,AaO-2672, cranial view. (I) Catharacta sp. cf. C. skua, right humerus, distal part and shaft, AaO-4793, cranial view. … [caption continued on facing page]