Balearica Brisson, 1760

Balearica Brisson, 1760 View in CoL

aff. † Balearica excelsa (Milne-Edwards, 1868) —syn. † Grus excelsa Milne-Edwards, 1868 , see Mlíkovskỳ, 2002

Location and age: Máriahalom; Lower Miocene (MN16).

Material: ungual phalanx ( Figure 2 View FIGURE 2 /7).

Dimensions (in mm): A—10.2, B—5.2.

Description: Characteristic crane ungual (distal pedal phalanx), which shows a characteristic sulcus along the side of the ungual in addition to the flattened ventral face. The fossil bone is more robust than the recent species, but this discovered bone is not from the Grus genus. The tuberculum extensorium protrudes, the cotyla articularis is more concave laterally. The tuberculum flexorum is bluntly protruding.

One species of the genus has been described so far in Hungary, † Balearica excelsa (Milne-Edwards 1868) , from the Late Oligocene of Máriahalom (MP25), which was identified from a claw bone (phal. 2 dig. I) (collected by Zoltán Evanics, in the collection of the Department of Palaeontology of ELTE). Dimensions of the claw: length of the claw bone 11–12 mm, length of the distal part of the joint 4.16 mm, including the cotyla articularis 5.74 mm, thickness 2.78 mm. The shape of the claw bone, with its sulcus, is characteristic and its size corresponds to that of a recurrent crane ( Kessler 2013a).

Since cranes are represented in the fossil bird fauna of Europe only from Eocene and Late Miocene strata, the find can be compared with only one known species, a fossil species described from the Early Miocene in France (Saunt-Gérand-le-Puy, MN2). Originally described as Grus excelsa by Milne-Edwards, 1868, the species was placed in Balearica by Mlíkovský (2002). It is also known in France, from Artenay (Lower Miocene, MN4) and Sansan (Middle Miocene, MN6). Mlíkovský (2002) also synonymised Balearica excelsa with Grus miocaenicus Grigorescu & Kessler, 1977 , described from the Middle Miocene of Dobrudzsa, Romania.

Distribution: Early Miocene (MN2a) of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy, France ( Milne-Edwards 1869 –1871; Cracraft 1973; Cheneval 2000); early Miocene (MN4) of Artenay, France; and middle Miocene (MN6) of Sansan, France ( Cheneval 2000).

This material is catalogued, number VER 2021. 73; the bones belong to the collection of the Hungarian Museum of Natural History.