#Ueekenkcoracias

[new-dinosaurs]

Chehuenia facongrandei Agnolín, 2022 (new genus and species)

(Type tarsometatarsus [fused ankle and foot bones] of Chehuenia facongrandei [scale bar = 5 mm], from Agnolín, 2022)

Meaning of name: Chehuenia = little bird [in Tehuelche]; facongrandei = for José Font "Facón Grande" [Argentinian worker and syndicalist]

Age: Miocene (Burdigalian–Langhian)

Where found: Santa Cruz Formation, Santa Cruz, Argentina

How much is known: A partial left tarsometatarsus (fused ankle and foot bones).

Notes: Chehuenia appears to have been a roller, a group of brightly colored, crow-sized birds that hunt insects and other small animals. If identified correctly, Chehuenia would be the first member of this group known from South America, with rollers today being found in Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. Ueekenkcoracias from the Eocene of Argentina was previously suggested to have been closely related to rollers, but more recent studies have cast doubt on this interpretation.

Reference: Agnolín, F.L. 2022. New fossil birds from the Miocene of Patagonia, Argentina. Poeyana 513: 1–43.

#Palaeoblr #Birblr #Dinosaurs #Birds #Chehuenia #Miocene #South America #Telluraves #2022 #Extinct

[new-dinosaurs]

Ueekenkcoracias tambussiae Degrange et al., 2021 (new genus and species)

(Hindlimb of Ueekenkcoracias tambussiae, from Degrange et al., 2021)

Meaning of name: Ueekenkcoracias = outsider roller [referring to its unexpected geographic location]; tambussiae = for Claudia Patricia Tambussi [Argentinian paleontologist]

Age: Eocene (Ypresian), about 52.2 million years ago

Where found: Huitrera Formation, Chubut, Argentina

How much is known: A partial right hindlimb.

Notes: Although not much is known of Ueekenkcoracias, its describers suggest that its closest living relatives are the rollers and ground rollers, a group of often brightly-colored, crow-sized birds that hunt insects and other small animals. Rollers today range across Eurasia, Africa, and Australia, ground rollers are only found in Madagascar, and their previously known close fossil relatives have been found in Europe and North America. This makes Ueekenkcoracias a potentially surprising discovery, because it is the first member of this lineage known from South America.

Reference: Degrange, F.J., D. Pol, P. Puerta, and P. Wilf. 2021. Unexpected larger distribution of Paleogene stem-rollers (Aves, Coracii): new evidence from the Eocene of Patagonia, Argentina. Scientific Reports 11: 1363. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-80479-8

#Palaeoblr #Birblr #Dinosaurs #Birds #Ueekenkcoracias #Eocene #South America #Telluraves #2021 #Extinct