New avian remains from the early Eocene of La Borie, southern France
Résumé
The giant flightless bird Gastornis laurenti Mourer-Chauviré and Bourdon, 2020, has been described from a mandible, maxilla and quadrate discovered in the early Eocene locality of La Borie (middle Ypresian, reference level MP 8–9). This locality has yielded abundant fossil vertebrates. We describe here new postcranial remains of G. laurenti, a coracoideum assigned to Tegulavis corbalani nov. gen., nov. sp. (cf. Galliformes), a tarsometatarsus attributed to Papulavis annae nov. gen., nov. sp. (cf. Aramidae), and the tibiotarsus of a small gruiform related to either Walbeckornis or Messelornithidae. The study of the postcranial material confirms that the species G. laurenti differs from other species of Gastornis in many features. The avifauna from La Borie is not very diversified but matches well with the paleoenvironment, which consists of an alluvial flood plain with sparse vegetation, in a tropical climate.