Doves (Columbidae) and Cuckoos (Cuculidae) from the Early Miocene of Florida

Abstract

A new genus, Arenicolumba (Aves: Columbiformes: Columbidae), is proposed for the fossil species Columbina prattae Becker and Brodkorb, 1992. This small dove is known from many hundreds of fossils, representing all major post-cranial skeletal elements, from the early Miocene (ca. 18.5 Ma; Hemingfordian land mammal age) Thomas Farm local fauna, Gilchrist County, Florida. Except for the single humerus of Gerandia from the Aquitanian (early Miocene; ca. 22 Ma) of France, Arenicolumba prattae is the oldest known member of the family Columbidae. The nearest living relatives of Arenicolumba appear to be the African genera Oena and Turtur. Thomasococcyx philohippus, new genus and species (Aves: Cuculiformes: Cuculidae), is also described from the Thomas Farm local fauna. Neotropical ground-dwelling cuckoos in the genera Morococcyx, Tapera, Geococcyx, and Dromococcyx may be the closest living relatives of Thomasococcyx. Along with Cursoricoccyx from the Hemingfordian of Colorado, Thomasococcyx philohippus provides evidence that the subfamily of New World ground-dwelling cuckoos (Neomorphinae) existed by the early Miocene.