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

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Abstract

Herons (Aves: Ardeidae) are rare in the fossil record globally. Fossil taxa referred to Ardeinae and Nycticoracini are known from as early as the early Oligocene and ardeids undetermined to subfamily include some as old as the early Eocene. In Australasia, the pre-Pliocene record is restricted to one species from the early Miocene of New Zealand. On the basis of a tarsometatarsus and a coracoid we describe a new species of bittern (Ardeidae: Botaurinae) from the St Bathans Fauna, of early Miocene age, from Otago, New Zealand. This is only the third and the oldest pre-Quaternary record for Botaurinae globally.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, GPO 2100, Adelaide, 5001, SA, Australia

    T. H. Worthy & J. P. Worthy

  2. Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, P. O. Box 467, Wellington, New Zealand

    A. J. D. Tennyson

  3. Canterbury Museum, Rolleston Ave, Christchurch, 8013, New Zealand

    R. P. Scofield

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  1. T. H. Worthy
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  2. J. P. Worthy
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  3. A. J. D. Tennyson
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  4. R. P. Scofield
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Correspondence to T. H. Worthy.

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Worthy, T.H., Worthy, J.P., Tennyson, A.J.D. et al. A bittern (Aves: Ardeidae) from the early Miocene of New Zealand. Paleontol. J. 47, 1331–1343 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030113110154

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