Biology:Allgoviachen

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Short description: Extinct genus of birds

Allgoviachen
Temporal range: Miocene,
(Tortonian), 11.44 Ma
Allgoviachen.jpg
Holotype leg bones
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Superfamily: Anatoidea
Family: Anatidae
Genus: Allgoviachen
Mayr, Lechner & Böhme, 2022
Species:
A. tortonica
Binomial name
Allgoviachen tortonica
Mayr, Lechner & Böhme, 2022

Allgoviachen (meaning "Allgäu goose") is an extinct genus of anatid bird from the Late Miocene (Tortonian) Hammerschmiede clay pits of Bavaria, Germany . The genus contains a single species, A. tortonica, known from bones belonging to the left leg.[1]

Discovery and naming

The Allgoviachen holotype specimen, SNSB-BSPG 2020 XCIV 1058, was discovered in the Hammerschmiede clay pits of the Allgäu region, near Pforzen, Bavaria, Germany . This specimen consists of the distal femur, tibiotarsus, tarsometatarsus, and most pedal phalanges of the left leg, found in articulation. Specimen GPIT/AV/00143, an incomplete distal left tarsometatarsus, was also assigned to Allgoviachen.[1]

In 2022, Gerald Mayr, Thomas Lechner, and Madelaine Böhme described Allgoviachen tortonica, a new genus and species of antatid, based on these fossil remains. The generic name, Allgoviachen, combines the Latin "Allgäu", a reference to the type locality, with the Greek "chen," meaning "goose". The specific name, "tortonica", refers to the Tortonian age of the type specimen.[1]

Description

The describing authors concluded that Allgoviachen would have had a body size comparable to the extant anserine Anser indicus (Bar-headed goose) and anatine Alopochen aegyptiaca (Egyptian goose), with an estimated body mass of about 2 kilograms (4.4 lb).[1]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Mayr, Gerald; Lechner, Thomas; Böhme, Madelaine (2022-03-07). "Nearly complete leg of an unusual, shelduck-sized anseriform bird from the earliest late Miocene hominid locality Hammerschmiede (Germany)". Historical Biology 35 (4): 465–474. doi:10.1080/08912963.2022.2045285. ISSN 0891-2963. 

Wikidata ☰ Q111271308 entry