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Earliest fossil record of the Certhioidea (treecreepers and allies) from the early Miocene of Germany

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Abstract

A complete tarsometatarsus of a passerine bird from the early Miocene (MN 3) of Petersbuch (Bavaria, Germany) is identified as an extinct representative of the climbing Certhioidea, i.e., a clade comprising treecreepers (Certhiidae), nuthatches and wallcreepers (Sittidae). The fossil specimen represents the so far earliest evidence of a representative of the Certhioidea and is described as †Certhiops rummeli gen. et sp. nov. Similarities to other climbing passerines are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

For providing access to and loans of fossil and extant specimens I thank Michael Rummel (Naturmuseum Augsburg), Gerald Mayr (Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg) as well as Mark Adams, Joe Cooper, and Robert Prŷs-Jones (Natural History Museum London/Tring). I thank Walter Bock, Antoine Louchart, and Gerald Mayr for their comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript. This study was supported by a German Research Foundation (DFG) grant MA 2328/3-1.

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  1. Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Section of Ornithology, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Albrecht Manegold

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  1. Albrecht Manegold
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Correspondence to Albrecht Manegold.

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Communicated by F. Bairlein.

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Manegold, A. Earliest fossil record of the Certhioidea (treecreepers and allies) from the early Miocene of Germany. J Ornithol 149, 223–228 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-007-0263-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-007-0263-9

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