A Fossil Bunting Emberiza shaamarica (Aves, Emberizidae) from the Upper Pliocene of Central Asia
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ssil Bunting Emberiza shaamarica (Aves, Emberizidae) from the Upper Pliocene of Central Asia E. S. Palastrovaa, * and N. V. Zelenkova, ** a
Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia *e-mail: [email protected] **e-mail: [email protected] Received October 30, 2019; revised January 24, 2020; accepted January 29, 2020
Abstract—New materials on “Rhodospiza” shaamarica Zelenkov et Kurochkin, 2012 from the Upper Pliocene of Shaamar (Northern Mongolia) and Beregovaya (Southern Transbaikalia; Russia) localities are described. It is shown that R. shaamarica should be assigned to the genus Emberiza (Emberizidae): thus, this is the first fossil bunting species found in Asia. The morphological similarity of Emberiza shaamarica comb nov. to the modern common reed bunting E. schoeniclus is noted. The fossil record and evolutionary history of Emberiza are analyzed. Taxonomic revision of previously described fossil species of Emberiza is performed. Keywords: Neogene, Pliocene, Asia, Passeriformes, Emberizidae, morphology DOI: 10.1134/S0031030120060076
INTRODUCTION Buntings (Passeriformes, Emberizidae) are a large family of passerine birds (Passeriformes), which includes 44 extant species (del Hoyo and Collar, 2016). Representatives of this family inhabit various landscapes and climatic zones, but many species are confined to semi-open or open habitats (Koblik, 2001; Winkler et al., 2015; Ryabitsev et al., 2019). Buntings of the modern Asian fauna are very diverse: 18 bunting species are currently found in Transbaikalia and Cisbaikalia (Dorzhiev, 2011), and 12 species, in Northern Mongolia (Tseveenmyadag et al., 2005). Buntings were apparently also common in various continental avifaunas of the past, but their evolution remains very poorly characterized. For instance, there is virtually no data on the diversity of Late Pliocene buntings. This article shows that the finch Rhodospiza shaamarica Zelenkov et Kurochkin, 2012 described from the Upper Pliocene of Northern Mongolia is actually a bunting, and therefore it is the first fossil bunting species from Asia. We discuss the morphology and ecology of this species and analyze the paleontological record of the family Emberizidae. MATERIALS AND METHODS The article is based on the revision of previously described bone remains that we assigned to Emberiza shaamarica (Passeriformes: Emberizidae) (Zelenkov and Kurochkin, 2012) and the study of new bone remains from the Beregovaya and Shaamar localities.
The study material was provided by M.A. Erbajeva and V.S. Zazhigin; the material is housed in the Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences (PIN RAS). The Beregovaya locality is situated on the right bank of the Chikoi River (right tributary of the Selenga River) in the Bichur district of the Republic of Buryatia, and the Shaamar locality is situated on the left bank of the Orkhon River near the village of Shaamar (Selenge Aymag) in Northern Mongolia. Both localities are Late Pliocene in age (Vangengeim et al., 1966; Devyatkin
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