Earliest northeastern Atlantic Ocean basin record of an auk (Charadriiformes, Pan-Alcidae): fossil remains from the Miocene of Germany

Abstract

Newly discovered fossil remains of an auk (Aves, Charadriiformes) extend the temporal range of Pan-Alcidae in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean basin and the geographic range of the clade during the Miocene. The new specimen consists of a partial ulna and a radius of a single individual. It represents the earliest fossil auk from the northeastern Atlantic Ocean basin and the first fossil remains of an auk reported from Germany. The specimen is from a moderately sized auk similar to the extant Razorbill Alca torda, which it also resembles in morphological features. A definitive taxonomic referral of the fossil is not possible, but the presence of Alca in the Miocene of the northeastern Atlantic Ocean basin would be congruent with the occurrence of this taxon in the northwestern Atlantic at the same time.