Coastal raptors and raiders: New bird tracks in the Pleistocene of SW Iberian Peninsula

Avian traces occurring in Pleistocene aeolianite and beach deposits are rare and relatively poorly known, despite being good paleoenvironmental indicators. Passeriform and raptorial birds are especially rare in the track fossil record. Exceptional tracksites were found in the Malhão formation, a Ple...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Neto de Carvalho, Carlos, Belo, Joao, Figueiredo, Silvério, Cunha, Pedro P., Muñiz, Fernando, Belaústegui Barahona, Zain, Cachao, Mário, Rodríguez-Vidal, Joaquín, Cáceres, Luis M., Baucon, Andrea, Murray, Andrew S., Buylaert, Jan-Pieter, Zhang, Yuping, Ferreira, Cristiana, Toscano, Antonio, Gómez, Paula, Ramírez, Samuel, Finlayson, Geraldine, Finlayson, Stewart, Finlayson, Clive
Format: article
Status:Versión aceptada para publicación
Publication Date:2023
Country:España
Institution:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repository:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:2445/223723
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/223723
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Paleoecologia
Plistocè
Icnologia
Vertebrats fòssils
Paleontologia
Paleoecology
Pleistocene
Ichnology
Fossil vertebrates
Paleontology
Description
Summary:Avian traces occurring in Pleistocene aeolianite and beach deposits are rare and relatively poorly known, despite being good paleoenvironmental indicators. Passeriform and raptorial birds are especially rare in the track fossil record. Exceptional tracksites were found in the Malhão formation, a Pleistocene coastal aeolianite unit from the SW mainland Portugal, with subunits in the interval ∼187 to ∼27 ka. Two new forms of avian traces were identified, <em>Corvidichnus odemirensis</em> and <em>Buboichnus vicentinus</em> - attributed to the locomotion of Western jackdaw and the locomotion and predation/feeding behaviour of a large Eagle-owl. The last trace fossil may correspond to the first evidence of a raptorial bird-prey interaction found in action in the fossil record. Typical shorebird tracks and trackways attributed to gulls (Laridae) and curlews, and others tentatively compared with Rallidae, such as Eurasian coot, are also discussed within the aeolianite ichnoassemblages. The tracks here described are the first avian ichnotaxa from the Pleistocene of Europe.

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