A heron (Aves: Ardeidae) from the Early Miocene St Bathans fauna of southern 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

  • Author
    R. Paul Scofield; Trevor H. Worthy; Alan J. D. Tennyson
  • Year
    2010
  • Journal
    Records of the Australian Museum
  • Publisher
    The Australian Museum

Abstract

We describe a fossil heron, based on seven fossil bones, from the Early Miocene Bannockburn Formation at Saint Bathans, Central Otago in the south of New Zealand. Based on a phylogenetic analysis of 50 morphological characters, we determine the new heron is a member of Ardeidae but, in an analysis where we retrieve three major lineages in Ardeidae: (1) bitterns, (2) egrets and true herons, and (3) night herons, there is no support for a sister group relationship with any of these clades. We discuss aspects of the higher taxonomy of the herons based on our phylogeny.

 
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Bibliographic Data

Short Form
Scofield et al., 2010, Rec. Aust. Mus. 62(1): 89–104
Author
R. Paul Scofield; Trevor H. Worthy; Alan J. D. Tennyson
Year
2010
Title
A heron (Aves: Ardeidae) from the Early Miocene St Bathans fauna of southern 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
Serial Title
Records of the Australian Museum
Volume
62
Issue
1
Start Page
89
End Page
104
DOI
10.3853/j.0067-1975.62.2010.1542
Language
en
Date Published
26 May 2010
Cover Date
26 May 2010
ISSN (print)
0067-1975
CODEN
RAUMAJ
Publisher
The Australian Museum
Place Published
Sydney, Australia
Subjects
AVES; PALAEONTOLOGY; MIOCENE; NEW ZEALAND
Reference Number
1542
EndNote
1542.enw
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