Bavarian fossils add new cormorant and eagle to Miocene bird record
Researchers have described six bird species from 11.6-million-year-old river sediments at the Hammerschmiede clay pit near Pforzen, Bavaria. The finds include two new genera and species: the short-billed cormorant Bavaricarbo brevirostris and the Pforzen Miocene eagle Mioaetus pforzenensis. Together with previously reported animals, the assemblage adds evidence of a fish-centered food web in the area.
The story
A research team led by Gerald Mayr of the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, together with Thomas Lechner and Madelaine Böhme, reported six bird species from the Hammerschmiede clay pit near Pforzen in the eastern Allgäu region of Bavaria. The fossils come from river sediments dated to 11.6 million years ago. Two of the birds were named as new genera and species. Bavaricarbo brevirostris, the Bavarian short-billed cormorant, is described as the most recent known representative of an extinct original stem group of cormorants. Mioaetus pforzenensis, named for Pforzen, is an unusual hawk relative whose lower-leg bone suggests a wingspan of more than one meter; the researchers infer that it probably caught fish with its talons. The report also identifies another, as-yet-unnamed cormorant, a loon represented by one humerus bone, and a small swift identified as Apus cf. gaillardi. Birds have been scarce at Hammerschmiede: Lechner said only one in 40 bone finds belongs to this vertebrate class. The study links cormorant, loon and previously known darter material to an aquatic setting populated by fish-eating diving birds. It was published in the Swiss Journal of Palaeontology.
Why it matters
Fossil bird remains can fill ecological gaps that mammal or fish fossils alone cannot resolve. At Hammerschmiede, the combination of diving birds, a probable fish-catching raptor, fish-eating mammals, turtles, salamanders and predatory fish points to multiple predators using the river system. That evidence allows researchers to test more detailed accounts of food-web structure in the early Late Miocene. It also preserves a record of bird forms that do not match living species closely, including the newly named cormorant and eagle-like hawk.
Evidence and context
Hammerschmiede is already known for vertebrate fossils, including two early anthropoid apes, but bird material has been comparatively rare. Before this report, researchers had documented darters, a giant crane and waterfowl at the site, including Allgoviachen tortonica and a dwarf duck. The new report says the site now contains 161 identified vertebrate species, with six newly described bird species contributing to that count. The team identifies numerous fish predators in the reconstructed ecosystem: two cormorant species, a darter, a loon, the newly named eagle, three otter species, two seal species, turtles, a giant salamander and predatory fish. This does not establish every interaction directly, but it supports the researchers' conclusion that fish-based food chains were an important feature of the ancient river environment.
Limits and unknowns
The fossils offer a partial rather than complete census of the ancient bird community. Bird bones are rare at Hammerschmiede, and some identifications rely on limited material: the loon is represented by a single humerus, while the second cormorant remains unnamed. Several ecological conclusions are also inferences from bone form and the composition of the fossil assemblage. For example, the proposed role of bird and otter waste in moving nitrogen and phosphorus from river to land is under investigation, and the source does not establish that this process caused the site's high vertebrate diversity.
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Bavarian fossils add new cormorant and eagle to Miocene bird record
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Highlights
- Six bird species found in ancient Bavarian river sediments
- New cormorant and eagle species named from fossils
- Evidence of fish-based food web in Miocene river system
- Bird fossils fill ecological gaps alongside other vertebrates
Transcript
Scientists discovered six bird species from 11.6-million-year-old river sediments in Bavaria's Hammerschmiede site.
Two new species named include the short-billed cormorant and a Miocene eagle with a large wingspan.
These fossils reveal a fish-centered food web with multiple predators in the ancient river ecosystem.
Bird fossils complement mammal and fish remains, helping reconstruct detailed food-web structures from the past.
The discovery enriches understanding of ancient biodiversity and predator interactions in Bavaria’s Miocene rivers.