Necrastur de Vis, 1892

Louys, Julien & Price, Gilbert J., 2015, The Chinchilla Local Fauna: An exceptionally rich and well-preserved Pliocene vertebrate assemblage from fluviatile deposits of south-eastern Queensland, Australia, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 60 (3), pp. 551-572 : 558-559

Genus Necrastur de Vis, 1892

Type species: Necrastur alacer de Vis, 1892 , type locality unknown but probably Chinchilla, Pliocene.

Necrastur alacer de Vis, 1892 Fig. 5H .

Material. — QM F1136 (proximal right humerus) and QM F5552 (distal right ulna), probably from Chinchilla, Australia, Pliocene.

Remarks.—The species was described de Vis (1892), and is therefore of possible Chinchilla provenance (see remarks in Gallinula morterii ). These two specimens were listed by Rich and van Tets (1982), but as? Harpyopsis and Butonidae. They stated that a revision of the taxon was in preparation at the time, presumably by them. We were unable to locate the material, and until a revision is published, we follow the taxonomy as currently published.

Stratigraphic and geographic range.—Pliocene; eastern Australia.

Order Gruiformes Bonaparte, 1854

Family Rallidae Rafinesque, 1815

Genus Fulica Linneaus, 1758

Type species: Fulica atra Linneaus, 1758 , Europe, Recent.

Fulica atra Linneaus, 1758

Fig. 5E .

Material.—QM F1129 (proximal right humerus) from Chinchilla, Australia, Pliocene.

Remarks.— Olson (1975) synonymised Fulica prior , originally described by de Vis (1888c), with Fulica atra .

Stratigraphic and geographic range.—Pliocene to Recent; Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa.

Genus Gallinula Brisson, 1760

Type species: Gallinula chloropus (Linnaeus, 1758) , Europe, Recent.

Gallinula mortierii du Bus, 1840

Fig. 5F .

Material.—QM F1138 (distal right humerus), QM F1144 (right humerus), QM F1128 (left tarsometatarsus), QM F5554 (tibia), QM F5555 (tibia), QM F1126 (distal right tarsometatarsus), QM F7008 (femur), QM F7007 (femur), QM F7009 (tibia), QM F7029 (proximal tibiotarsus), QM F7030 (distal tibiotarsus), and QM F7058 (partial humerus), all probably from Chinchilla, Australia, Pliocene.

Remarks.— Olson(1975) synonymised four species described by de Vis (1888c), namely Gallinula strenuipes , Gallinula peralata , Tribonyx effluxus , and Porphyrio mackintoshi into Gallinula (Tribonyx) mortierii . Olson (1975) also drew attention to the fact that de Vis’s (1892) account of fossil birds lacked an introduction, and inferred that it was meant as a continuation of de Vis (1888c). In the introduction, de Vis (1888c: 1277) refers to specimens “yielded by the Darling Downs in the immediate neighbourhood of Chinchilla”. It is therefore probable that all the specimens mentioned by de Vis (1892) came from the Chinchilla Sand. QM F7029 and F7030 represent two parts (proximal and distal tibiotarsus, respectively) of the same specimen.

Stratigraphic and geographic range.—Pliocene to Recent; Australia.

Order Charadriiformes Huxley, 1867

Charadriiformes gen. et sp. indet.

Fig. 5G .

Material.—QM F5543 (proximal left femur) from Chinchilla, Australia, Pliocene.

Remarks.—The specimen referred to Anas elapsa by de Vis (1888c) was identified by Olson (1977) as Charadriiformes indeterminate.

Family Charadriidae Leach, 1820

Genus Vanellus Brisson, 1760

Type species: Vanellus vanellus (Linnaeus, 1758) , Europe, Recent.

Figures

Fig. 5. Birds from unspecified localities near Chinchilla, Australia, Pliocene. A. Aythya australis Eyton, 1838, QM F1124, left tibiotarsus. B. Leipoa gallinacean (de Vis, 1888), QM F1132, partial carpometacarpus. C. Biziura lobata Shaw, 1796, QM F1125, partial left humerus. D. Anas superciliosa Gmelin, 1789, QM F5550, left coracoid. E. Fulica atra Linneaus, 1758, QM F1129, proximal right humerus. F. Gallinula morterii du Bus, 1840, QM F1138, distal right humerus.G. Charadriiformes gen.et sp.indet., QM F5543, proximal left femur.H. Necrastur alecer de Vis, 1892, QM F1136, proximal right humerus. I. Microcarbo melanoleucos Vieillot, 1817, QM F1130, right humerus. J. Ciconia nana (de Vis, 1888), QM F1131, distal right tibiotarsus. K. Dromaius novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790), QM F56203, third trochlea of the tarsometatarsus. Scale bars 10 mm.