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Article: Phylogenetic relationships of the Early Miocene diving and flightless duck Cayaoa bruneti (Aves, Anatidae) from Patagonia: homology or convergence?

Papers in Palaeontology - Volume 5 Issue 4 - Cover
Publication: Papers in Palaeontology
Volume: 5
Part: 4
Publication Date: November 2019
Page(s): 743 751
Author(s): Ricardo S. De Mendoza
DOI: 10.1002/spp2.1268
Addition Information

How to Cite

MENDOZA, R.S.D. 2019. . Papers in Palaeontology, 5, 4, 743-751. DOI: /doi/10.1002/spp2.1268

Author Information

  • Ricardo S. De Mendoza - División Paleontología Vertebrados Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo de La Plata UNLP, Museo de La Plata Paseo del Bosque s/n B1900FWA La Plata Argentina

Publication History

  • Issue published online: 19 October 2019
  • Manuscript Accepted: 09 January 2019
  • Manuscript Received: 04 July 2018

Funded By

Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Online Version Hosted By

Wiley Online Library
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Abstract

Cayaoa bruneti, from the early Miocene Gaiman Formation of Chubut, Argentina, provides the earliest evidence for diving behaviour and the earliest example of flight loss within Anseriformes. It is also the only known diving duck from South America. A new phylogenetic analysis using only morphological characters places Cayaoa bruneti as part of a single radiation of diving ducks within Anatinae, as sister group to the Erismaturinae. Partition analysis of subsets of characters shows that the humerus and femur have the strongest effect in generating this phylogeny, while the skull characters result in groupings closer to those seen in analyses with molecular data. When the analysis is constrained by enforcing the molecular tree as a backbone, Cayaoa bruneti emerges as a basal branch within the Erismaturinae. These results make Cayaoa bruneti an independent and early example of the recurring evolution of flightlessness in large marine Anatidae.

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