Evidence of a fossil stork (aves: Ciconiidae) from the late Miocene of the Pisco Formation, Peru

The family Ciconiidae is represented in Peru by three modern species. The only Peruvian fossil material comes from Late Pleistocene beds of Talara (North coast). Herein a Ciconiidae indet. is reported for the Pisco Formation (South central coast of Peru) belonging to the Aguada de Lomas vertebrate locality with an age of 8.8 – 7 Ma corresponding to the Late Miocene. These fossils increase the temporal range of the family in Peru. Additionally, the number of families of Aves reported in the Pisco Formation increases at eleven: Spheniscidae, Diomedeidae, Procellaridae, Sulidae, Phalacrocoracidae, Pelagornithidae, Pelecanidae, Laridae, Scolopacidae, Vulturidae and Ciconiidae.

Keywords: Aves, Ciconiidae, stork, Late Miocene, Pisco formation, Peru.

EVIDENCIA DE UNA CIGÜEÑA FÓSIL (AVES: CICONIIDAE) DEL MIOCENO TARDÍO DE LA FORMACIÓN PISCO, PERÚ

RESUMEN

La familia Ciconiidae está representada en el Perú por tres especies actuales. El único material fósil peruano reportado anteriormente proviene del Pleistoceno de Talara, en la costa norte del país. En la presente nota, se da a conocer material correspondiente a un tarsometatarso de cigüeña, procedente de la localidad fosilífera de Aguada de Lomas (8.8 – 7 Ma) de la formación Pisco, expuesta en la costa centro-sur del Perú. Este fósil es el primer registro de la familia Ciconiidae para esta formación y a su vez es el más antiguo para el Perú. Su escasa presencia y las condiciones climáticas de la costa durante este período, indicarían que se trató de un visitante ocasional de las costas, como ocurre con algunos miembros de su familia en la actualidad. Hasta el momento son once las familias de Aves reportadas para la Formación Pisco: Spheniscidae, Diomedeidae, Procellaridae, Sulidae, Phalacrocoracidae, Pelagornithidae, Pelecanidae, Laridae, Scolopacidae, Vulturidae y Ciconiidae.

Palabras Clave: Aves, Ciconiidae, cigüeña, Mioceno Tardío, Formación Pisco, Perú.

INTRODUCTION

The storks (Ciconiidae) are a group of long- legged wading birds with near cosmopolitan distribution. Representatives are found on five continents (Elliot, 1992). The oldest fossil record of this family comes from the Late Eocene of Egypt(Miller et al., 1997). In South America, the earliest reported fossil is Ciconiopsis antarctica Ameghino 1895 from the Early Oligocene of Argentina; however, this fossil has been questioned by Olson (1985), who indicates that can not be considered as a stork without a restudy.

Currently, three Ciconiid species inhabit South America, Jabiru mycteria Lichtenstein, 1819, Mycteria americana Linnaeus, 1758 and Ciconia maguari Gmelin, 1789. All three species occur in Peru inhabiting the Amazon lowlands east of the Andes and rarely they are seen in the high-Andean areas (Puna) an occasionally along the coast of the north of Peru, (Clements & Shany, 2001). Jabiru mycteria and M. americana have also been reported from the Late Pleistocene of Talara, northern of the Peru (Campbell, 1979).

The new material here described comes from the Pisco Formation (South- central coast) (Fig. 1), a marine sedimentary sequence formed since the Middle Miocene to the Late Pliocene. This Formation has been described with six vertebrate localities: Cerro la Bruja (14-12 Ma), El Jahuay (9.5-9 Ma), Aguada de Lomas (8.8-7 Ma), Montemar (6 Ma), Sud Sacaco (5 Ma) and Sacaco (3.9-3 Ma), and the ciconiid material proceeds specifically from the Aguada de Lomas vertebrate locality (Muizon & DeVries, 1985).

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The fossil remains were described following the terminology of Baumel & Witmer (1993) and Howard (1980). The measurements were taken with a Vernier caliper. The fossil material belong to the collection of the Departamento de Paleontologia de Vertebrados, Museo de Historia Natural de la Universidad de San Marcos, Lima, Perú (MUSM) and the comparison extant species of the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, USA (FMNH).

Comparison Material

Ardeidae: Ardea herodias FMNH 429092, 429095, 431046; Bulbucus ibis FMNH 339297,

342328, 379029; Butorides striatus FMNH 339311,

375536, 375540; Egretta thula thula FMNH 339285,

342322, 368679; Nycticorax nycticorax FMNH

291243, 339325, 342340; Ciconiidae: Anastomus lamelligerus FMNH 368769, 368770; Ciconia abdimii FMNH 368771; C. ciconia FMNH 105326, 105490, 339238; C. episcopus FMNH 339236;

Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis FMNH 347517, 348120; Jabiru mycteria FMNH 104641;

Leptoptilos crumeniferus FMNH 104722, 339240, 339242; Mycteria americana FMNH 339223, 339227, 339229; Scopidae: Scopus umbretta FMNH 313094, 339244, 339245; Threskiornithidae: Ajaia ajaja FMNH 104676; Plegadis falcinellus FMNH 104701, 339209, 339211; Threskiornis aethiopicus FMNH 290001, 330191, 360126.

SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY

Order Ciconiiformes Bonaparte, 1854 Family Ciconiidae Gray, 1840

Gen. et sp. indet. (Fig. 2)

Figura 1.- The Pisco Formation. After Muizon & DeVries (1985)