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<p>The Early Pleistocene (early Calabrian; 1.8–1.6&#xa0;Ma) avifauna of Taurida cave in Crimea (Eastern Europe; north Black Sea area) yielded a fairly diverse assemblage of birds, mostly inhabitants of open savanna-like environments. In this paper, I describe two new and unexpected taxa from this fauna: a capercaillie (<i>Tetrao</i> sp.) and a diver (<i>Gavia</i> cf. <i>arctica</i>), represented by a fragmentary coracoid and femur, respectively. Both capercaillies and divers are very scarcely known in the Pliocene—early Quaternary faunas globally, and both are for the first time recovered in an association with ostriches (Struthionidae). The capercaillie find is the easternmost in the pre-Late Pleistocene fossil record, and is the first stratigraphically constrained find for the Late Pliocene to late Calabrian (2.6–1.2&#xa0;Ma) temporal interval. A critical taxonomic review of previous fossil finds of capercaillies (<i>Tetrao</i> spp.) is presented. <i>Gavia</i> cf. <i>arctica</i> similarly represents the oldest stratigraphically constrained find of Gaviidae in the Pliocene—early Quaternary fossil record of Eurasia and is further the first post-Miocene find of Gaviidae originating from non-marine deposits. Both species are important environmental indicators and confirm the existence of woodlands and a fairly large water body in the vicinity of the cave. Their joint presence in Taurida Cave may indicate a special pattern of Eurasian bird zoogeography in the beginning of the Calabrian.</p>

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A capercaillie (Phasianidae: Tetraonini) and a diver (Gaviidae)—unexpected large birds from the Lower Pleistocene of Crimea

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年12月3日

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  • Nikita Zelenkov

摘要

The Early Pleistocene (early Calabrian; 1.8–1.6 Ma) avifauna of Taurida cave in Crimea (Eastern Europe; north Black Sea area) yielded a fairly diverse assemblage of birds, mostly inhabitants of open savanna-like environments. In this paper, I describe two new and unexpected taxa from this fauna: a capercaillie (Tetrao sp.) and a diver (Gavia cf. arctica), represented by a fragmentary coracoid and femur, respectively. Both capercaillies and divers are very scarcely known in the Pliocene—early Quaternary faunas globally, and both are for the first time recovered in an association with ostriches (Struthionidae). The capercaillie find is the easternmost in the pre-Late Pleistocene fossil record, and is the first stratigraphically constrained find for the Late Pliocene to late Calabrian (2.6–1.2 Ma) temporal interval. A critical taxonomic review of previous fossil finds of capercaillies (Tetrao spp.) is presented. Gavia cf. arctica similarly represents the oldest stratigraphically constrained find of Gaviidae in the Pliocene—early Quaternary fossil record of Eurasia and is further the first post-Miocene find of Gaviidae originating from non-marine deposits. Both species are important environmental indicators and confirm the existence of woodlands and a fairly large water body in the vicinity of the cave. Their joint presence in Taurida Cave may indicate a special pattern of Eurasian bird zoogeography in the beginning of the Calabrian.