Reidentification of “Phalacrocorax” Subvolans Brodkorb as the Earliest Record of Anhingidae

Abstract

Abstract The putative cormorant Phalacrocorax subvolans Brodkorb 1956, from the early Miocene of Florida, is moved from the Phalacrocoracidae to the Anhingidae and should be known as Anhinga subvolans (Brodkorb 1956). This species is the earliest known anhinga and demonstrates that the family Anhingidae has been present in North America for at least 18 million years. It has been at least 30 million years since the Anhingidae and the Phalacrocoracidae shared a common ancestor.