A new species of the late Miocene charadriiform bird (Aves: Charadriiformes), with a summary of all Paleogene and Miocene Charadrii remains

Abstract

A new species, Cherevychnavis umanskae sp. nov., (Aves: Charadriiformes) from the late Miocene of Ukraine is described, and all known fossils of the suborder Charadrii from the Paleogene and Miocene are summarized. The combination of preserved characters allows us to assign the new species to the suborder Charadrii but its more exact systematic position remains uncertain. Morphologically, the new species is most similar to the extant Haematopus and Recurvirostra, and in terms of size to Haematopus, but it clearly differs from all extant genera of Charadrii. The current remains fill the temporal and spatial gaps in the fossil record of charadriiform birds; they constitute the first record of the Charadrii in eastern-most Europe, and add to our still insufficient knowledge of the late Miocene birds.