First record of Palaelodus (Aves: Phoenicopteriformes) from New Zealand. In Proceedings of the VII International Meeting of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution, ed. W.E. Boles and T.H. Worthy
Abstract
The first record of the flamingo-like Palaelodidae (Phoenicopteriformes) is reported from the Early Miocene, St Bathans Fauna of Central Otago, New Zealand. Two distal tibiotarsi are described as a new Palaelodus species and a cranial fragment of a sternum is tentatively assigned to the same taxon. The new species is slightly smaller than P. wilsoni from the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene of Australia, and is distinguished from all congeners by a more robust shaft with a gradual expansion of width to the distal condyles.
