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It may be the oldest swan species in the Southern Hemisphere.
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3 Aug. 2022 10:01 a.m.
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Today there is only one indigenous group of swans in the Southern Hemisphere, the Black swan, scientifically known as Cygnus atratus, in the Australasia region. and the South American Coscoroba Swan, most recently, paleontologists from Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia. An excavation site near St. Batans in the Central Otago region has uncovered fossils that may belong to the oldest swan species in the Southern Hemisphere.
The remains of this ancient swan were named
Bannockburn swan (Notochen bannockburnensis)
Lived between 16-19 million years ago, corresponding to the early Miocene.
On Lake Manu herikia is a large lake that covers most of the central part of the modern Otago region.
Paleontologists from New Zealand and Oz.
Trelia described the swan from a wing bone fossil found near St. Batans.
in the clone layer
prehistoric
that despite the damage to the wing bone
This will make it difficult to determine the exact size of this animal.
But it is thought that it may be slightly larger than the black swan common in New Zealand's modern-day Aotearoa area.
However, a team of paleontologists believe that the discovery of this ancient swan fossil It may also lead to a better understanding of the evolution of birds.
(Illustration Credit : Worthy et al., doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5168.1.3.)
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