A bittern (Aves: Ardeidae) from the Early Miocene of New Zealand

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Miocene fossils show that kiwi (Apteryx, Apterygidae) are probably not phyletic dwarves

Copyright 2013 © Verlag Naturhistorisches Museum. Published version of the paper reproduced here with permission from the publisher. Publisher website: http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/Until now, kiwi (Apteryx, Apterygidae) have had no pre-Quaternary fossil record to inform on the timing of their arrival in New Zealand or on their inter-ratite relationships. Here we describe two fossils in a new genus of apterygid from Early Miocene sediments at St Bathans, Central Otago, minimally dated to 19–16 Ma. The new fossils indicate a markedly smaller and possibly volant bird, supporting a possible overwater dispersal origin to New Zealand of kiwi independent of moa. If the common ancestor of this early Miocene apterygid species and extant kiwi was similarly small and volant, then the phyletic dwarfing hypothesis to explain relatively small body size of kiwi compared with other ratites is incorrect. Apteryx includes five extant species distributed on North, South, Stewart and the nearshore islands of New Zealand. They are nocturnal, flightless and comparatively large birds, 1–3 kg, with morphological attributes that reveal an affinity with ratites, but others, such as their long bill, that differ markedly from all extant members of that clade. Although kiwi were long considered most closely related to sympatric moa (Dinornithiformes), all recent analyses of molecular data support a closer affinity to Australian ratites (Casuariidae). Usually assumed to have a vicariant origin in New Zealand (ca 80–60 Ma), a casuariid sister group relationship for kiwi, wherein the common ancestor was volant, would more easily allow a more recent arrival via overwater dispersal

Miocene Fossils Reveal Ancient Roots for New Zealand’s Endemic Mystacina (Chiroptera) and Its Rainforest Habitat

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.The New Zealand endemic bat family Mystacinidae comprises just two Recent species referred to a single genus, Mystacina. The family was once more diverse and widespread, with an additional six extinct taxa recorded from Australia and New Zealand. Here, a new mystacinid is described from the early Miocene (19–16 Ma) St Bathans Fauna of Central Otago, South Island, New Zealand. It is the first pre-Pleistocene record of the modern genus and it extends the evolutionary history of Mystacina back at least 16 million years. Extant Mystacina species occupy old-growth rainforest and are semi-terrestrial with an exceptionally broad omnivorous diet. The majority of the plants inhabited, pollinated, dispersed or eaten by modern Mystacina were well-established in southern New Zealand in the early Miocene, based on the fossil record from sites at or near where the bat fossils are found. Similarly, many of the arthropod prey of living Mystacina are recorded as fossils in the same area. Although none of the Miocene plant and arthropod species is extant, most are closely related to modern taxa, demonstrating potentially long-standing ecological associations with Mystacina

Fish remains, mostly otoliths, from the non-marine early Miocene of Otago, New Zealand

Fish remains described from the early Miocene lacustrine Bannockburn Formation of Central Otago, New Zealand, consist of several thousand otoliths and one skeleton plus another disintegrated skull. One species, Mataichthys bictenatus Schwarzhans, Scofield, Tennyson, and T. Worthy gen. et sp. nov., an eleotrid, is established on a skeleton with otoliths in situ. The soft embedding rock and delicate, three−dimensionally preserved fish bones were studied by CT−scanning technology rather than physical preparation, except where needed to extract the otolith. Fourteen species of fishes are described, 12 new to science and two in open nomenclature, representing the families Galaxiidae (Galaxias angustiventris, G. bobmcdowalli, G. brevicauda, G. papilionis, G. parvirostris, G. tabidus), Retropinnidae (Prototroctes modestus, P. vertex), and Eleotridae (Mataichthys bictenatus, M. procerus, M. rhinoceros, M. taurinus). These findings prove that most of the current endemic New Zealand/southern Australia freshwater fish fauna was firmly established in New Zealand as early as 19–16 Ma ago. Most fish species indicate the presence of large fishes, in some cases larger than Recent species of related taxa, for instance in the eleotrid genus Mataichthys when compared to the extant Gobiomorphus. The finding of a few otoliths from marine fishes corroborates the age determination of the Bannockburn Formation as the Altonian stage of the New Zealand marine Tertiary stratigraphy.Werner Schwarzhans, R. Paul Scofield, Alan J.D. Tennyson, Jennifer P. Worthy, and Trevor H. Worth

A large fruit pigeon (Columbidae) from the early Miocene of New Zealand

We describe a new genus and species of pigeon (Columbiformes) from a single coracoid from the St Bathans Fauna of New Zealand (16–19 mya). It is the first columbid species described from pre-Pliocene deposits in Australasia. Two apomorphies identify the fossil as belonging to the ptilinopine group of fruit pigeons, among which it is most similar to Hemiphaga, the large fruit pigeon currently endemic to the New Zealand biogeographic area. This reveals that the Hemiphaga lineage has been in New Zealand since the Early Miocene, which supports recent divergence-date estimates for Hemiphaga and its modern sister taxon (Lopholaimus) based on molecular data.Trevor H. Worthy, Suzanne J. Hand, Jennifer P. Worthy, Alan J. D. Tennyson and R. Paul Scofiel

Miocene skinks and geckos reveal long-term conservatism of New Zealand's lizard fauna

The New Zealand (NZ) lizard fossil record is currently limited to late Quaternary remains of modern taxa. The St Bathans Fauna (early Miocene, southern South Island) extends this record to 19–16 million years ago (Myr ago). Skull and postcranial elements are similar to extant Oligosoma (Lygosominae) skinks and Hoplodactylus (Diplodactylinae) geckos. There is no evidence of other squamate groups. These fossils, along with coeval sphenodontines, demonstrate a long conservative history for the NZ lepidosaurian fauna, provide new molecular clock calibrations and contradict inferences of a very recent (less than 8 Myr ago) arrival of skinks in NZ

Miocene fossils reveal ancient roots for New Zealand's endemic Mystacina (Chiroptera) and its rainforest habitat

The New Zealand endemic bat family Mystacinidae comprises just two Recent species referred to a single genus, Mystacina. The family was once more diverse and widespread, with an additional six extinct taxa recorded from Australia and New Zealand. Here, a new mystacinid is described from the early Miocene (19-16 Ma) St Bathans Fauna of Central Otago, South Island, New Zealand. It is the first pre-Pleistocene record of the modern genus and it extends the evolutionary history of Mystacina back at least 16 million years. Extant Mystacina species occupy old-growth rainforest and are semi-terrestrial with an exceptionally broad omnivorous diet. The majority of the plants inhabited, pollinated, dispersed or eaten by modern Mystacina were well-established in southern New Zealand in the early Miocene, based on the fossil record from sites at or near where the bat fossils are found. Similarly, many of the arthropod prey of living Mystacina are recorded as fossils in the same area. Although none of the Miocene plant and arthropod species is extant, most are closely related to modern taxa, demonstrating potentially long-standing ecological associations with Mystacina

Schematic reconstruction of the forest habitat on the shores of paleolake Manuherikia, South Island, New Zealand in the early Miocene.

<p>Schematic reconstruction of the forest habitat on the shores of paleolake Manuherikia, South Island, New Zealand in the early Miocene.</p

Upper teeth of extinct and extant mystacinid species.

<p>A–B, <i>Mystacina miocenalis</i> sp. nov., St Bathans, Central Otago, New Zealand; Early Miocene. A, holotype, CM2013.18.381, right M1. B, paratype, MNZ S.52355, left M2. C–D, <i>Mystacina tuberculata</i>, Predator Cave, Takaka Hill, Nelson, NZ; Holocene. NMNZ S.32400. C, left M1. D, left M2. E, <i>Mystacina robusta</i>, Exhale Air Cave, Ellis Basin, Mt Arthur, Nelson, NZ; Holocene. NMNZ S.35205, left P4-M3. F, <i>Icarops paradox</i>, Judith’s Horizontalis Site, Riversleigh, Queensland Australia; Early Miocene. QM F30582, left P4-M3. G, <i>Icarops</i> sp., Outasite, Riversleigh; Early Miocene. QM F30586, left M1. Abbreviations: c, cingulum; mcl, metaconule; me, metacone; ml, metaloph; ms, mesostyle; mt, metastyle; pa, paracone; pcl, paraconule; pf, profossa; pl, paraloph; pr, protocone; ps, parastyle. To scale; bar = 2 mm.</p

Measurements (mm) of upper teeth (P4-M2) and postcranial remains (humerus and radius) of St Bathans Early Miocene mystacinids (bold) compared with summary statistics for those elements in New Zealand Quaternary <i>Mystacina</i> species and Australian Oligo–Miocene <i>Icarops</i> species.

<p>Measurements of New Zealand Quaternary <i>Mystacina</i> species from Worthy et al. [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0128871#pone.0128871.ref032" target="_blank">32</a>], Worthy and Scofield [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0128871#pone.0128871.ref033" target="_blank">33</a>] and this study; those of Australian Oligo–Miocene <i>Icarops</i> species are from Hand et al. [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0128871#pone.0128871.ref006" target="_blank">6</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0128871#pone.0128871.ref014" target="_blank">14</a>]. <i>Mystacina robusta</i> (E) is from Stewart Island area [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0128871#pone.0128871.ref033" target="_blank">33</a>]; <i>M</i>. <i>robusta</i> (Waitomo) is from Waitomo and Hawkes Bay, North Island, where this species is largest [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0128871#pone.0128871.ref032" target="_blank">32</a>]. Abbreviations: D, distal; H, humerus; L, length; P, proximal; P4, posterior upper premolar; M1, first upper molar; M2, second upper molar; max., largest specimen in sample; min., smallest specimen in sample; R, radius; W, width;</p><p>^†, extinct.</p><p>Measurements (mm) of upper teeth (P4-M2) and postcranial remains (humerus and radius) of St Bathans Early Miocene mystacinids (bold) compared with summary statistics for those elements in New Zealand Quaternary <i>Mystacina</i> species and Australian Oligo–Miocene <i>Icarops</i> species.</p