Ciconia Brisson, 1760

Nascimento, Rafael S. & Silveira, Luís Fábio, 2024, Fossil and subfossil birds of Brazil, Zoologia (e 23079) 41, pp. 1-234 : 134-136

Ciconia Brisson

440. Ciconia sp.

Late Pleistocene – RS

“anatídeo” – Lopes and Pereira 2017: 96–97.

Ciconia sp. – Lopes et al. 2019: 199–216, fig. 3.

Lopes and Pereira (2017) reported an almost complete, large cervical vertebra ( MCTFM-PV1090 ) from the fluvial deposit of the Santa Vitória Formation ( Fig. 1.16) exposed along the right bank of Arroio ChuÍ in Santa Vitória do Palmar , Rio Grande do Sul. It was found isolated and disarticulated, associated with mammalian and turtle remains in sediments dated 37,900±5,080 years, and represents the first avian record for that Formation .

The specimen was initially attributed to a large anatid closely resembling Cygnus melancoryphus , but likely a distinct species. Later, Lopes et al. (2019) attributed it to Ciconia , and noted it is similar to Ciconia maguari . However, its larger dimensions suggest it could be a morphotype of that taxon or represent another extinct one, such as Ciconia lydekkeri , of which the unavailability of detailed published descriptions or specimes of cervical vertebrae for comparison prevented a more assertive attribution. The authors also discussed the role of climate change on the distribution of ciconiids and other taxa during the Quaternary in southern South America.

441. Ciconia maguari (Gmelin)

Holocene – RJ

Ciconiformes [sic] [in part] – Kneip et al. 1989a: 126.

Jabiru mycteria (?) [in part] – Kneip et al. 1989b: 662. Euxenura maguari (?) [in part] – Kneip et al. 1989b: 662. Euxenura maguari [in part] – Kneip et al. 1994: 49.

Kneip et al. (1989b) reported at least one individual from layer II of Sambaqui da Beirada in Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro, but were unsure whether it belonged to Jabiru mycteria or Ciconia maguari . Later, Kneip et al. (1994) determined the material as C. maguari and reported it to comprise three bones of at least one individual from the site’s layer II (4,160±180 years BP) and six bones of at least two individuals from layer III (4,300±190 years BP).

Euxenura maguari [in part] – Kneip et al. 1994: 49.

Kneip et al. (1994) reported two bones of at least one individual from layer III (1,810±40 years BP) of Sambaqui da Pontinha in Saquarema , Rio de Janeiro .

442. † Ciconia lydekkeri (Ameghino)

Late Pleistocene – MG

Figs 24, 35B

Type locality: The assigned localities are “South America” ( Lydekker 1891: 65) and “Brazilian caves” ( Ameghino 1891: 445). Here, we restrict it to the Lagoa Santa region. Etymology: lydekkeri , honoring British naturalist Richard Lydekker (1849–1915) (British Museum (Natural History)).

Palaeociconia australis (Moreno) – Lydekker 1891: 64–65, fig. 15. Prociconia Lydekkeri nom. n. [new genus and species] – Ameghino 1891: 445.

Prociconia Lydekkeri – Lambrecht 1921: 26.

Palaeociconia australis – Lambrecht 1930: 24–25. Palaeociconia australis (Moreno) – Lambrecht 1933: 321, 735. Paleociconia australis [sic] – Howard 1942: 189.

Jabiru lydekkeri – Patterson and Kraglievich 1960: 8, footnote. Prociconia lydekkeri – Brodkorb 1963: 290–291.

“Lydekker’s stork, Prociconia lydekkeri ” – HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Fisher 1970: 193.

Prociconia lydekkeri – Mones 1986: 80.

Prociconia lydekkeri – Cuello 1988: 9.

‘ Prociconia ’ lydekkeri – Haarhoff 1988: 300.

Jabiru lydekkeri – Alvarenga 1993a: 62.

Prociconia lidekkeri [lapsus] – Alvarenga 1993b: 21.

Jabiru lydekkeri – Alvarenga 1997: 21.

Ciconia lydekkeri – Agnolín 2009a: 53–58.

Ciconia lydekkeri – Nascimento and Silveira 2020: 490, fig. 4.

Lydekker (1891) associated two fragments collected and sold by Peter Claussen to the British Museum (Natural History) with Palaeociconia australis , an Argentinean species described by Moreno (1889) from a partial tarsometatarsus from Monte Hermoso (Pliocene), Buenos Aires. The material consists of the proximal end of a right tarsometatarsus (NHMUK PV OR 18878; acquired in 1842) and the distal end of a left tarsometatarsus (NHMUK PV OR 18879).

Ameghino (1891) did not consider P. australis to be a ciconiid (it is in fact a phorusrhacid AgnolÍn 2009a) from figures of the fossil later published by Moreno and Mercerat (1891) and erected the new genus and species Prociconia lydekkeri for the Brazilian material. He also provisionally classified under this name the bones of a large bird from the Pampean Formation of Buenos Aires mentioned by Burmeister.

Lambrecht (1930, 1933), who considered this taxon one of the most problematic forms of South American fossil birds, used the name Palaeociconia australis and treat- ed Prociconia lydekkeri as a synonym. He had no access to Moreno’s description of P. australis , and, therefore, believed he described the tarsometatarsi from Lagoa Santa in the British Museum, with Lydekker only depicting one of them. He noted, however, that this material is not identical to the one later depicted by Moreno and Mercerat, which he thought should be classified as a phorusrhacid.

Howard (1942), in her review of American fossil storks, expressed regret that she was not able to examine the P.australis material in hands, as opposed to the North American fossil ciconiid material. The two specimens originally associated with the taxon were removed from the British Museum of Natural History and stored in safer quarters due to the war, being unavailable for study when Henry Anson Wylde of the Los Angeles Museum’s Department of Paleontology visited the institution in late 1939. Based on the drawings published by Lydekker, she commented that the tarsometatarsus does not resemble the North American ones but noted that old line drawings are not always to be relied on for accuracy.

Patterson and Kraglievich (1960) followed Ameghino and considered the name given by Moreno in 1889 a nomen nudum but associated it with the genus Jabiru after an examination of the type. Brodkorb (1963) used Prociconia lydekkeri and found no evidence to place the species in the genus Jabiru .

Harrison (1975) proposed that Lydekker’s publication constituted validity for the name Palaeociconia australis attributed to the material of the Lagoa Santa region, with Prociconia lydekkeri being a synonym. Harrison did not seem to have consulted Moreno (1889) (although he included the study in his references) and, like Lambrecht, understood he described the material from Brazil. According to him, this name given by Moreno in 1889 is a nomen nudum, and the date of publication of Lydekker’s study precedes that of Moreno and Mercerat (April 25 or “before May 2” versus “May to August 5”). Furthermore, he mentioned that Brodkorb also supported this after reviewing the data. Harrison also referred to this species the distal end of a left femur (NHMUK PV OR 12878 [33]) from the same deposits and collection in the British Museum and suggested affinity to the genus Mycteria . This bone and the two others mentioned above are possibly referable to the same individual ( AgnolÍn 2009a).

Haarhoff (1988) termed it as “ Prociconia ” lydekkeri and, through personal communication with Olson, noted it required revision. This was followed by Louchart et al. (2005), who further noted that its status as a ciconiid was not certain.

AgnolÍn (2009a) transferred the species to the genus Ciconia , considering the description of Ameghino as valid and creating the combination Ciconia lydekkeri . When comparing other fossil storks, he associated with C. lydekkeri the distal end of a right humerus from the late Pleistocene of Luján Formation in Monte Hermoso, Buenos Aires. He also synonymized Ciconia maltha to this species—a comparison already suggested by Brodkorb (1963), originally described in 1910 from a left tarsometatarsus from the late Pleistocene of Rancho La Brea in California, USA. After Miller’s description, several other specimens originally associated with C. maltha were found, including complete skeletons, with a high degree of variation, in the USA in Idaho (late Pliocene, middle and late Pleistocene), California (late Pleistocene), and Florida (late Pleistocene), and isolated fragments in Cuba (late Pleistocene of Cienfuegos province) and Bolivia (early–middle Pleistocene of Tarija) ( Brodkorb 1963, Feduccia 1967, AgnolÍn 2006b).

The synonymization of the Rancho La Brea stork with the bird of Lagoa Santa allows a clearer picture of this component of the Brazilian prehistoric avifauna. AgnolÍn (2006b) suggested, when describing the material collected in Bolivia, that, given the age of the fossils, it is likely that the stork came from North to South America during the Great American Biotic Interchange.