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

2009/10/26 by Julia A. Clarke, Daniel T. Ksepka, Neil Smith +1 · 3 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Biology #Clade #Cretaceous #Ecology #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Evolutionary biology #Ichthyology and Marine Biology #Monophyly #Old World #Paleogene #Paleontology #Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology #Phylogenetic tree #Taxon #Zoology

paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00550.x

openalex publication_date 2009/10/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04

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 mcgrewi indicates 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.

Citations

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Cited by

• Stem Parrots (Aves, Halcyornithidae) from the Green River Formation and a Combined Phylogeny of Pan-Psittaciformes
• Phylogenetic relationships of rollers (Coraciidae) based on complete mitochondrial genomes and fifteen nuclear genes
• Coraciidae [wikipedia]

Related

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