Crypturellus reai

Crypturellus reai; Temporal range: Early-Mid Miocene (Santacrucian); ~17.5–16.3 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Tinamiformes
Family:	Tinamidae
Genus:	Crypturellus
Species:	C. reai
Binomial name
	Crypturellus reai; Chandler 2012
Synonyms
	aff. CrypturellusBrabourne & Chubb 1914;

Last updated June 20, 2019

Crypturellus reai is a species of Miocene fossil birds in the Tinamou family. It was described in 2012 from material originally excavated by American palaeontologist Barnum Brown in 1899 in Patagonia. The specific epithet honours Amadeo M. Rea, an educator, mentor and friend of the describer.^[1]

The Miocene is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about 23.03 to 5.333 million years ago (Ma). The Miocene was named by Charles Lyell; its name comes from the Greek words μείων and καινός and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene is preceded by the Oligocene and is followed by the Pliocene.

A fossil is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in amber, hair, petrified wood, oil, coal, and DNA remnants. The totality of fossils is known as the fossil record.

Tinamous form an order of birds (Tinamiformes), comprising a single family (Tinamidae) with two distinct subfamilies, containing 47 species found in Mexico, Central America, and South America. The word "tinamou" comes from the Galibi term for these birds, tinamu. Tinamous have traditionally been regarded as the sister group of the flightless ratites, but recent work places them well within the ratite radiation, implying basal ratites could fly. Tinamous first appear in the fossil record in the Miocene epoch. They are generally sedentary, ground-dwelling and, though not flightless, when possible avoid flight in favour of hiding or running away from danger. They are found in a variety of habitats, ranging from semi-arid alpine grasslands to tropical rainforests. The two subfamilies are broadly divided by habitat, with the Nothurinae referred to as steppe or open country tinamous, and the Tinaminae known as forest tinamous.

History

The holotype left humerus is held in the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), which was a sponsor of the 1898-99 Patagonian expedition, led by John Bell Hatcher, on which Brown was the AMNH representative. The site of the discovery was a wash at Cañadón de las Vacas, southeastern Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. It was found in Early-Middle Miocene (Santacrucian; 16.3–17.5 million-year-old) deposits of the fossiliferous Santa Cruz Formation. The site is considerably further south than the ranges of extant members of Crypturellus, which inhabit tropical or subtropical environments.^[1]

Holotype single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described

A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype. Under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), a holotype is one of several kinds of name-bearing types. In the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) and ICZN the definitions of types are similar in intent but not identical in terminology or underlying concept.

The humerus is a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. It connects the scapula and the two bones of the lower arm, the radius and ulna, and consists of three sections. The humeral upper extremity consists of a rounded head, a narrow neck, and two short processes. The body is cylindrical in its upper portion, and more prismatic below. The lower extremity consists of 2 epicondyles, 2 processes, and 3 fossae. As well as its true anatomical neck, the constriction below the greater and lesser tubercles of the humerus is referred to as its surgical neck due to its tendency to fracture, thus often becoming the focus of surgeons.

The American Museum of Natural History, located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City, is one of the largest natural history museums in the world. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 28 interconnected buildings housing 45 permanent exhibition halls, in addition to a planetarium and a library. The museum collections contain over 33 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, and human cultural artifacts, of which only a small fraction can be displayed at any given time, and occupies more than 2 million square feet. The museum has a full-time scientific staff of 225, sponsors over 120 special field expeditions each year, and averages about five million visits annually.

Related Research Articles

The brown tinamou is a brownish ground bird found in humid lowland and montane forest in tropical and subtropical South America.

The variegated tinamou a type of tinamou commonly found in moist forest lowlands in subtropical and tropical regions of northern South America.

Crypturellus is a genus of tinamous containing mostly forest species. However, there are the odd few that are grassland or steppe tinamous. There are 21 species of and a total of 67 taxa.

The red-legged tinamou or red-footed tinamou, is a ground-dwelling bird found in the tropics and lower subtropics of northern South America.

The cinereous tinamou, also known as brushland tinamou, is a type of ground bird found in swamp and lowland forests in northern South America. They have some localized names that have been used by the indigenous people such as in Amazonas where they are called inambu-pixuna, and in Pará, Brazil where they are called nambu-sujo. Also, throughout their range they are called inhambu-preto. Cinereous tinamous have been around for many centuries. They are part of the oldest families of the world today and have fossils discovered dating back tens of millions of years. Their quick reflexes play a role in their ability to survive.

The undulated tinamou is a species of ground bird found in a wide range of wooded habitats in eastern and northern South America.

The pale-browed tinamou is a type of tinamou found in tropical dry forests in Peru and Ecuador.

The Brazilian tinamou is a type of tinamou found in tropical moist lowland forest in regions of Amazonian South America.

The grey-legged tinamou is a species of tinamou found in relatively dry, shrubby forests in the Amazon in South America.

The Colombian tinamou, Crypturellus erythropus columbianus, is a tinamou found in Córdoba, Sucre, Bolívar, and Antioquia in north-central Colombia. Little is known about it. It occurs in lowland moist forest and shrubland at elevation up to 600 m (2,000 ft).

The thicket tinamou or rufescent tinamou is a type of tinamou commonly found in moist forests in subtropical and tropical central Mexico.

The slaty-breasted tinamou or Boucard's tinamou is a type of tinamou commonly found in lowland moist forests of Mexico and Central America.

The Bartlett's tinamou is a type of tinamou commonly found in lowland forest in South America.

The small-billed tinamou is a type of Tinamou commonly found in dry savanna in Amazonian South America.

The Tataupa tinamou is a type of tinamou commonly found in dry forest in subtropical and tropical regions in southeastern South America.

The brushland tinamou is a type of Tinamou commonly found in high-altitude dry shrubland in subtropical and tropical regions of southern South America.

Opisthodactylus is an extinct genus of rhea from the Early to Middle Miocene Santa Cruz and Chichinales Formations and the Late Miocene (Montehermosan) Andalhuala Formation of Argentina. Three species are described: the type species, O. patagonicus, O. kirchneri and O. horacioperezi. The species O. kirchneri was described in 2017 by Noriega et al. Fossils of O. horacioperezi were found together with fossils of Patagorhacos terrificus.

The Santa Marta tinamou, Crypturellus erythropus idoneus, is a subspecies of tinamou that was recognized as a species by most authorities until 2006. It is found in northern South America.

References

1 2 Chandler, Robert M. (2012). "A New Species of Tinamou (Aves: Tinamiformes, Tinamidae) from the Early-Middle Miocene of Argentina" (PDF). PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology. 9 (2): 1–8.

This prehistoric bird article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This Tinamiformes-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[chandler-1] 1 2 Chandler, Robert M. (2012). "A New Species of Tinamou (Aves: Tinamiformes, Tinamidae) from the Early-Middle Miocene of Argentina" (PDF). PalArch's Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology. 9 (2): 1–8.