Short Note: An ibis-like bird from the Upper La Meseta Formation (Late Eocene) of Seymour Island, Antarctica

• Published in: Antarctic Science
• Main Authors: Jadwiszczak, Piotr, GaŹdzicki, Andrzej, Tatur, Andrzej
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2008
• Subjects: Geology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Oceanography; Seymour; Seymour Island; Antarc*; Antarctic Science; Antarctica; Tierra del Fuego
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102008000977; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102008000977

Ibises are a group of medium- to large-sized, mainly wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae (Aves: Ciconiiformes; see also discussion in Mayr 2002). They are known from all the continents except Antarctica, though one species breeds as far south as Tierra del Fuego (del Hoyo et al. 1992, p. 499). The oldest fossil bones (including skull elements) attributed to ibises are those of Rhynchaeites messelensis Wittich, 1898 from the Middle Eocene of Messel, Germany (Peters 1983, Mayr 2002). Another supposed member of this group is the Pondaung bird from the late Middle Eocene of Myanmar (formerly Burma) represented solely by an incomplete tibiotarsus (Stidham et al. 2005, fig. 2). The taxonomic position of Minggangia changgouensis Hou, 1982 from the Late Eocene of China (Hou 1982) was recently questioned by Stidham et al. (2005, p. 183). Here, we present a partial bill from the Eocene La Meseta Formation (Seymour Island, Antarctica) which most closely resembles that of ibises.