Abstract
A new genus and two new species of ducks (Aves: Anatidae) from the Middle Miocene Sharga locality are described. Mioquerquedula minutissima gen. et sp. nov. is a very small duck. Anas velox Milne-Edwards, 1868 from the Middle Miocene of France is transferred to the genus Mioquerquedula. Aix praeclara sp. nov. described here is the oldest record of the modern genus Aix. A revision of the previously described small duck Anas soporata Kurochkin, 1976 shows that only the specimens from the Sharga locality should be referred to this species. The status of other small ducks from the Neogene of Europe and North America is discussed. The diversity of herbivorous and diving ducks in the Sharga locality indicates that Miocene Shargyn Govi Lake was rich in food resources.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ballmann, P., Les oiseaux miocènes de La Grive-Saint-Alban (Isère), Geobios, 1969, vol. 2, pp. 157–204.
Baumel, J.J., King, A.S., Breazile, J.E., et al., Handbook of Avian Anatomy: Nomina Anatomica Avium, Publ. Nuttall Ornithol. Club, 1993, no. 23, pp. 1–779.
Brodkorb, P., Birds from the Pliocene of Juntura, Oregon, Quart. J. Florida Acad. Sci., 1961, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 169–184.
Bulgarella, M., Sorenson, M.D., Peters, J.L., et al., Phylogenetic Relationships of Amazonetta, Speculanas, Lophonetta, and Tachyeres: Four Morphologically Divergent Duck Genera Endemic to South America, J. Avian Biol., 2010, vol. 41, pp. 186–199.
Cheneval, J., Les Anatidae (Aves, Anseriformes) du gisement aquitanien de Saint-Gérand-le-Puy (Allier, France), in Act. sympos. paléontol. G. Cuvier, Buffeteaut, E., Mazin, J.M., and Salmon, E., Eds., Montbéliard: Ville de Montbéliard, 1983, pp. 85–98.
Cheneval, J., Les Anatidae (Aves, Anseriformes) du Miocène de France: Révision systématique et évolution, Docum. Lab. Géol. Lyon, 1987, vol. 99, pp. 137–156.
Cheneval, J., The avifauna of Sansan, Mém. Mus. Nat. Hist. Natur., 2000, vol. 183, pp. 321–388.
Devyatkin, E.V., Kainozoi Vnutrennei Azii (stratigrafiya, geokhronologiya, korrelyatsiya) (Cenozoic of Inner Asia: Stratigraphy, Geochronology, and Correlation), Moscow: Nauka, 1981.
Eo, S.H., Bininda-Emonds, O.R.P., and Carroll, J.P., A Phylogenetic Supertree of the Fowls (Galloanserae, Aves), Zool. Scr., 2009, vol. 38, no. 5, pp. 465–481.
Gonzalez, J., Düttman, H., and Wink, M., Phylogenetic Relationships Based on Two Mitochondrial Genes and Hybridization Patterns in Anatidae, J. Zool., 2009, vol. 279, no. 3, pp. 310–318.
Kessler, E., New Results with Regard to the Neogene and Quaternary Avifauna of the Carpathian Basin: Part I, Földt. Közl., 2009, vol. 139, pp. 67–81.
Kessler, E. and Venczel, M., Bird Remains from the Middle Miocene of Subpiatr (W-Romania), Nymphaea. Folia Natur. Bihariae, 2009, vol. 36, pp. 27–36.
Kurochkin, E.N., New Data on Pliocene Birds of Western Mongolia, Tr. Sovm. Sovet.-Mongol. Paleontol. Eksped., 1976, no. 3, pp. 51–67.
Kurochkin, E.N., Birds of Central Asia in the Pliocene, Tr. Sovm. Sovet.-Mongol. Paleontol. Eksped., 1985, vol. 26, pp. 1–119.
Kurochkin, E.N. and Ganya, I.M., Birds from the Middle Sarmatian of Moldova, in Pozvonochnye neogena i pleistotsena Moldavii (Vertebrates from the Neogene and Pleistocene of Moldova), Chisinau: Shtiintsa, 1972, pp. 45–70.
Livezey, B.C., A Phylogenetic Analysis of Recent Anseriform Genera Using Morphological Characters, Auk, 1986, vol. 103, no. 4, pp. 737–754.
Livezey, B.C. and Martin, L.D., The Systematic Position of the Miocene Anatid Anas blanchardi Milne-Edwards, J. Vertebr. Paleontol., 1988, vol. 8, pp. 196–211.
Milne-Edwards, A., Recherches anatomiques et paléontologiques pour servir à l’histoire des oiseaux fossiles de la France, Paris: Victor Masson et fils, 1869–1871.
Mlíkovský, J., Late Miocene Birds of Götzendorf/Leitha, Austria, Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, 1991, vol. 92, pp. 97–100.
MlÍkovský, J., Cenozoic Birds of the World: Part 1: Europe, Praha: Ninox Press, 2002.
MlÍkovskyý, J. and Švec P., Review of the Tertiary Waterfowl (Aves: Anseridae) of Asia, Věst. čs. Společ. Zool., 1986, vol. 50, pp. 249–272.
Švec, P., Lower Miocene Birds from Dolnice (Cheb Basin), Western Bohemia: Part 2, as. Mineral. Geol., 1981, vol. 26, pp. 45–56.
Sytchevskaya, E.K., History of the Formation of the Ichthyofauna of Mongolia and the Problem of Faunal Assemblages, in Ryby Mongol’skoi Narodnoi Respubliki (Fishes of the Mongolian People’s Republic), Moscow: Nauka, 1983, pp. 225–249.
Woolfenden, G.E., Postcranial Osteology of the Waterfowl, Bull. Florida St. Mus., 1961, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 1–129.
Worthy, T.H., Tertiary Fossil Waterfowl (Aves: Anseriformes) of Australia and New Zealand, Unpubl. PhD Thesis, Adelaide: Univ. Adelaide, 2008, pp. 1–415.
Worthy, T.H., Descriptions and Phylogenetic Relationships of Two New Genera and Four New Species of Oligo-Miocene Waterfowl (Aves: Anatidae) from Australia, Zool. J. Linn. Soc., 2009, vol. 156, no. 2, pp. 411–454.
Worthy, T.H. and Lee, M.S.Y., Affinities of Miocene Waterfowl (Anatidae: Manuherikia, Dunstanetta and Miotadorna) from the St Bathans Fauna, New Zealand, Palaeontology, 2008, vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 677–708.
Zelenkov, N.V., Diving Ducks from the Middle Miocene of Western Mongolia, Paleontol. Zh., 2011a, no. 2, pp. 70–77.
Zelenkov, N.V., Ardea sytchevskayae, a New Heron Species (Aves: Ardeidae) from the Middle Miocene of Mongolia, Paleontol. Zh., 2011b, no. 5, pp. 94–101.
Zelenkov, N.V. and Kurochkin, E.N., Neogene Phasianids (Aves: Phasianidae) of Central Asia: 1. Genus Tologuica gen. nov., Paleontol. Zh., 2009, no. 2, pp. 86–92.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © N.V. Zelenkov, E.N. Kurochkin, 2012, published in Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal, 2012, No. 4, pp. 88–95.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zelenkov, N.V., Kurochkin, E.N. Dabbling ducks (Aves: Anatidae) from the Middle Miocene of Mongolia. Paleontol. J. 46, 421–429 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030112040132
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030112040132