''Podiceps solidus'' is an extinct small species of Upper

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

to Lower

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58grebe Grebes () are aquatic diving birds in the order (biology), order Podicipediformes (). Grebes are widely distributed freshwater birds, with some species also found in sea, marine habitats during Bird migration, migration and winter. Most grebes f ...

from Western

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

History

The species was first described in 1985 by Kuročkin. Zelenkov would describe more material that is housed at the

Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences The Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences (PIN; ) in Moscow is among a paleontological institute. An affiliate of the Russian Academy of Sciences, it includes collections from all over the former Soviet Union, as well as from other ...

in 2013.

Description

The holotype (

PIN A pin is a device, typically pointed, used for fastening objects or fabrics together. Pins can have the following sorts of body: *a shaft of a rigid inflexible material meant to be inserted in a slot, groove, or hole (as with pivots, hinges, an ...

3222/37) is of a distal fragment of the right

humerus The humerus (; : humeri) is a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. It connects the scapula and the two bones of the lower arm, the radius (bone), radius and ulna, and consists of three sections. The humeral upper extrem ...

. The additional material that would later be described by Zelenkov (2013) include a distal fragment of the left

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 ...

(PIN 3378/98), a right

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 ...

(PIN 3378/113), and a distal portion of a

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 ...

(PIN 3378/96) from an immature bird. The size of the bones suggests a smaller species of grebe comparable to both

black-necked grebe The black-necked grebe or eared grebe (''Podiceps nigricollis'') is a member of the grebe family (biology), family of water birds. It was described in 1831 by Christian Ludwig Brehm. Its breeding plumage features distinctive ochre-coloured feat ...

(''P. nigricollis'') and

horned grebe The horned grebe or Slavonian grebe (''Podiceps auritus'') is a relatively small and Threatened species, threatened species of waterbird in the family Podicipedidae. There are two subspecies, ''P. a. auritus'' (Slavonian grebe), which breed ...

(''P. auritus''). For example, the coracoid is most similar to the black-necked grebe, while the tibotarsus is more closer to those of horned grebes.

Classification

The species is a member of the genus ''Podiceps''. ''P. solidus'' was compared to '' P. pisanus'' of the

Piacenzian The Piacenzian is in the international geologic time scale the upper stage (stratigraphy), stage or latest age (geology), age of the Pliocene. It spans the time between 3.6 ± 0.005 year#SI prefix multipliers, Ma and 2.58 Ma (million years ago). T ...

Italy. ''P. pisanus'' is often considered to be a junior synonym of the horned grebe.Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002)
''Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe''
Ninox Press, Prague, p. 194. Zelenkov (2013) argues, however, that ''P. solidus'' is not a junior synonym of either ''P. pisanus'' or the horned grebe, due to the aforementioned mosaic characters it has with both horned and black-necked grebes, possibly closely related to the last common ancestor of these species.

Paleobiology

The temporal range of the specimens shows ''P. solidus'' existed from the

Messinian The Messinian is in the geologic timescale the last age or uppermost stage of the Miocene. It spans the time between 7.246 ± 0.005 Ma and 5.333 ± 0.005 Ma (million years ago). It follows the Tortonian and is followed by the Zanclean, the fir ...

to the

Zanclean The Zanclean is the lowest stage or earliest age on the geologic time scale of the Pliocene. It spans the time between 5.332 ± 0.005 Ma (million years ago) and 3.6 ± 0.005 Ma. It is preceded by the Messinian Age of the Miocene Epoch, and f ...

of Mongolia. The holotype was found at the locality Hyargas-Nuur 2 dating to the Upper Miocene, while the other specimens found at the localities Chono-Harayah 1 and 2, and Zogsoo-Harhan 1 and 4 dating to the Lower Pliocene. In a later paper that discusses the evolution of Neogene

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

n avifauna Zelenkov (2016) noted how quickly grebes have established themselves in the region, going from primitive genera such as the Aquitanian ''

Miobaptus ''Miobaptus'' is a fossil genus of grebe that is known from several specimens collected from Czechia and Lake Baikal dating from the Early Miocene to Middle Miocene. Considered to be one of the most primitive genera of grebes, the anatomy of ''M ...

'' to the modern ''

Podiceps ''Podiceps'' is a genus of birds in the grebe family. The genus name comes from Latin , "rear-end" and ', "foot", and is a reference to the placement of a grebe's legs towards the rear of its body. It has representatives breeding in all contine ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q116059314

solidus Solidus (Latin for "solid") may refer to: * Solidus (coin) The ''solidus'' (Latin 'solid'; : ''solidi'') or ''nomisma'' () was a highly pure gold coin issued in the Later Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire. It was introduced in the early ...

Fossil taxa described in 1985 Piacenzian species Birds described in 1985