Re: Picavus litencicensis->Ideas for Short Dinosaur Presentation

[Paul P <turtlecroc@yahoo.com>]

Hey, this post (below) kind of goes with that other active 
thread, "Ideas for Short Dinosaur Presentation." 

I mean, we don't want any kiddies out there thinking that 
birds are just boring old birds and not dinosaurs. 


--- On Sat, 2/18/12, Daniel Madzia <daniel.madzia@gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Daniel Madzia <daniel.madzia@gmail.com>
> Subject: Picavus litencicensis, a new member of Pici from the Czech Republic
> To: dinosaur@usc.edu
> Date: Saturday, February 18, 2012, 3:24 PM
> 
> Dear DMLers,
> ... because Oligocene feathered theropods are cool too;o)
> 
> Mayr, G. & Gregorová, R. 2012. A tiny stem group
> representative of
> Pici (Aves, Piciformes) from the early Oligocene of the
> Czech
> Republic. Paläontologische Zeitschrift.
> http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12542-012-0133-5
> 
> Abstract: We describe a new stem group representative of
> Pici
> (woodpeckers, honeyguides, barbets, and allies) from the
> early
> Oligocene (Rupelian) of the Czech Republic. The holotype of
> Picavus
> litencicensis, gen. et sp. nov. is a postcranial skeleton
> with
> well-preserved feather remains. The new species is
> distinguished from
> crown group Pici in several plesiomorphic features and is
> assigned to
> the new taxon Picavidae, fam. nov. The absence of an
> elongated
> accessory trochlea for the reversed fourth toe shows P.
> litencicensis
> to be the most basal representative of Pici, and concerning
> the
> morphology of the distal tarsometatarsus the species
> represents a
> morphological link between Pici and their sister taxon, the
> Galbulae.
> Like all other early Oligocene piciform birds, P.
> litencicensis is a
> tiny bird, the size of the smallest extant Pici. Because
> all
> Palaeogene Pici were found in Europe and some of these are
> outside the
> crown group, an Old World origin of Pici is likely. With
> definitive
> crown group representatives of Pici being unknown before the
> late
> Oligocene/early Miocene, the fossil record does not support
> earlier
> molecular calibrations, which resulted in a late 
taceous
> divergence
> of crown group Pici.
> 
> Best,
> --
> Daniel Madzia
> web: www.wildprehistory.org
> mail: daniel.madzia@gmail.com
> skype: danielmadzia
>