Phoenicopterus Minutus
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''Phoenicopterus minutus'' is an extinct species of flamingo which inhabited
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
during the
Late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as the Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division ...
. It was originally discovered in
San Bernardino County, California San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is locat ...
in the
Lake Manix Lake Manix is a former lake fed by the Mojave River in the Mojave Desert. It lies within San Bernardino County, California. Located close to Barstow, this lake had the shape of a cloverleaf and covered four basins named Coyote, Cady/Manix, Troy a ...
beds, where it coexisted with a second, larger flamingo species.


History

The fossils of ''Phoenicopterus minutus'' were discovered in the
Lake Manix Lake Manix is a former lake fed by the Mojave River in the Mojave Desert. It lies within San Bernardino County, California. Located close to Barstow, this lake had the shape of a cloverleaf and covered four basins named Coyote, Cady/Manix, Troy a ...
beds during a large scale project conducted by the
United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...
. Although this project had begun in 1947, much of the bird material from Lake Manix was not collected until the 1950s. The material that formed the basis of the taxon consists of a nearly complete
tibiotarsus The tibiotarsus is the large bone between the femur and the tarsometatarsus in the leg of a bird. It is the fusion of the proximal part of the tarsus with the tibia. A similar structure also occurred in the Mesozoic Heterodontosauridae. These ...
alongside associated
tarsometatarsus The tarsometatarsus is a bone that is only found in the lower leg of birds and some non-avian dinosaurs. It is formed from the fusion of several bird bones found in other types of animals, and homologous to the mammalian tarsus (ankle bones) a ...
elements, which accounts for approximately two thirds of said bone. An additional tarsometatarsus fragment is also known, as are two
scapulae The scapula (: scapulae or scapulas), also known as the shoulder blade, is the bone that connects the humerus (upper arm bone) with the clavicle (collar bone). Like their connected bones, the scapulae are paired, with each scapula on either side ...
and a fragment of the
coracoid A coracoid is a paired bone which is part of the shoulder assembly in all vertebrates except therian mammals (marsupials and placentals). In therian mammals (including humans), a coracoid process is present as part of the scapula, but this is n ...
. The species was named by Hildegard Howard in 1955.


Description

''Phoenicopterus minutus'' was said to be the smallest species of flamingo at the time of its description. Specifically, it was stated that the tibiotarsus was shorter than the same element in the smallest available
Chilean flamingo The Chilean flamingo (''Phoenicopterus chilensis'') is a species of large flamingo at a height of closely related to the American flamingo and the greater flamingo, with which it was previously considered a subspecies before being classified ...
skeleton. The distal end was also narrower and more shallow than in '' Phoenicopterus stocki'' from middle Pliocene Mexico. These two fossil forms further differ in their anatomy. Whereas the older ''P. stocki'' resembles the proportions of the modern
American flamingo The American flamingo (''Phoenicopterus ruber'') is a large species of flamingo native to the West Indies, northern South America (including the Galápagos Islands) and the Yucatán Peninsula. It is closely related to the greater flamingo and ...
, ''P. minutuss shallower tibiotarsus bears closer resemblance to the
greater flamingo The greater flamingo (''Phoenicopterus roseus'') is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. Common in the Old World, they are found in Northern (coastal) and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian Subcontinent (south of the Him ...
. The notch present on the internal condyle is central in ''P. stocki'', but moved well behind this point in ''P. minutus'', a condition also seen in the American flamingo. While the tarsometatarsus could not be compared between these two species, there were still differences to extant forms such as the intercotylar tubercles, which are high and narrow. The ratio between the tubercles height to the width is noted to be even bigger than in American flamingos. Both scapula are similar in size but differ in their contour. This however is not overly exceptional as this also occurs in the still living flamingo species. More notable is the shape of the glenoid facet, the part of the shoulder that connects to the upper arms, which is inflated but smaller than in modern species. The coracoid, although larger than would be expected based on the type material, was deemed too incomplete form the basis of any further conclusions. Although it was initially described as one of the smallest known flamingos, later research uncovered the presence of even smaller species. According to Rich ''et al.'', ''Phoenicopterus minutus'' was in a similar size range as '' Xenorhynchopsis minor'' and '' Phoenicopterus stocki''. They consider '' Phoeniconaias proeses'' and ''
Leakeyornis ''Leakeyornis'' is an extinct genus of flamingo from the early to middle Miocene of Kenya, primarily in the area of modern day Lake Victoria. Initially described as a species of ''Phoenicopterus'' based on an incomplete skull and various limb b ...
'' to have been smaller.


Paleobiology

Lake Manix is known for the preservation of a multitude of water birds that lived in the region during the Pleistocene, including a second species of flamingo. This second species, known from juvenile remains that fall within the size range of modern American and greater flamingos has been tentatively assigned to '' Phoenicopterus copei''. In general, the deposits of Lake Manix resemble that of
Fossil Lake (Oregon) Fossil Lake (designated by the Bureau of Land Management as Fossil Lake Area of Critical Environmental Concern) is a dry lakebed in the remote high desert country of northern Lake County in the U.S. state of Oregon. During the Pleistocene epoc ...
, with a diverse avifauna including
pelicans Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...
,
grebes Grebes () are aquatic diving birds in the order Podicipediformes (). Grebes are widely distributed freshwater birds, with some species also found in marine habitats during migration and winter. Most grebes fly, although some flightless species ...
,
cormorants Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the International Ornithologists' Union (IOU) ado ...
,
geese A goose (: geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (black geese). Some members of the Tadorninae subfamily (e.g., Egyp ...
and
ducks Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...
.


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q16110642 Pleistocene birds of North America Fossil taxa described in 1955 minutus