Miotadorna

Miotadorna is a genus of extinct tadornine duck from the Miocene of New Zealand. It contains two species, M. sanctibathansi, and M. catrionae (Catriona's shelduck).

Miotadorna
Temporal range: Early Miocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Anseriformes
Family: Anatidae
Subfamily: Tadorninae
Genus: †Miotadorna
Worthy et al., 2007
Type species
† Miotadorna sanctibathansi
Worthy et al., 2007
Other species
  • †M. catrionae (Tennyson et al., 2022)[1]

M. sanctibathansi

It was described from fossil material (a right humerus) collected from the Saint Bathans Fauna, in the lower Bannockburn Formation of the Manuherikia Group, found by the Manuherikia River in the Central Otago region of the South Island. The genus name reflects the view of the describers that the bird is a Miocene shelduck similar to those in the genus Tadorna. The specific epithet refers to the fossil sites’ location in the vicinity of the historic gold mining town of Saint Bathans, of which it is a latinisation.[2]

M. catrionae

This species, described and named in 2022, is the largest duck species so far discovered in the St Bathans fossil deposits. Both the species name, catrionae, and the common name, Catriona's shelduck, honour co-author Nicholas J. Rawlence's late mother, Catriona Drummond. The holotype specimen is a large right humerus. It is noted as being very similar to M. sanctibathansi, but its large size and differing proportions distinguish it from that species. This size difference may represent sexual dimorphism, although the morphological changes are not sufficiently explained by this.[3]

References
  1. Tennyson, Alan J. D.; Greer, Liam; Lubbe, Pascale; Marx, Felix G.; Richards, Marcus D.; Giovanardi, Simone; Rawlence, Nicolas J. (2022-03-09). "A New Species of Large Duck (Aves: Anatidae) from the Miocene of New Zealand". Taxonomy. 2 (1): 136–144. doi:10.3390/taxonomy2010011. ISSN 2673-6500.
  2. Worthy TH, Tennyson AJ, Jones C, McNamara JA, Douglas BJ (2007). "Miocene waterfowl and other birds from central Otago, New Zealand" (PDF). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 5 (1): 1–39. doi:10.1017/S1477201906001957. hdl:2440/43360. S2CID 85230857.
  3. Tennyson, Alan J. D.; Greer, Liam; Lubbe, Pascale; Marx, Felix G.; Richards, Marcus D.; Giovanardi, Simone; Rawlence, Nicolas J. (2022-03-09). "A New Species of Large Duck (Aves: Anatidae) from the Miocene of New Zealand". Taxonomy. 2 (1): 136–144. doi:10.3390/taxonomy2010011. ISSN 2673-6500.


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