| Chauvireria | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Galliformes |
| Family: | Phasianidae |
| Subfamily: | Pavoninae |
| Genus: | †Chauvireria Boev, 1997 |
| Type species | |
| Chauvireria balcanica Boev, 1997 | |
| Other species | |
| |
Chauvireria is anextinctgenus of small-sizedlandfowl, belonging to the familyPhasianidae, and closely related to modernpartridges,Old World quails andfrancolins. Two species are known from the genus :C. balcanica, thetype species, andC. bulgarica. Both species lived in what is todayWestern Bulgaria during the EarlyPleistocene.[1][2]
The first remains associated with the genus were collected between July 1990 and September 1993 ; theholotype was collected in August 1993 byZlatozar Boev in aponor nearVarshets, in northwesternBulgaria. These 1160 fossilized bones, belonging to at least 49 individuals, were described by Boev in 1997 under the nameChauvireria balcanica.[1] In 2020, Boev described another species,C. bulgarica, after 54 fossilized bones belonging to at least 4 individuals, discovered in 1993 by the author himself in a landfill nearSlivnitsa.[2]
The genus name,Chauvireria, honours FrenchpaleontologistCécile Mourer-Chauviré.[1]
Chauvireria balcanica, the type species of the genus, was quite abundant in its environment, representing 85% of the fossil remains in theVarshets locality. It is known after at least 45 individuals.[1]
Its specific name,balcanica, refers to theBalkan Mountains in which it was found.[1]
C. bulgarica remains were discovered in a cave landfill exposed by stone exploitation nearSlivnitsa, inBulgaria. It is slightly more recent and smaller than the type species. It is known after at least 4 individuals. Thescapula featured a dorsally directedacromion, longer and more upright than that ofC. balcanica. Thecoracoid had a thinner humeral region, and thehumerus had a wider condylus dorsalis.[2]
The specific name,bulgarica, refers toBulgaria, its country of origin.[2]
In 2024 three other species have been included in genusChauvireria:Chauvireria egorovkensis Zelenkov, 2024 from the Late Miocene of Ukraine,Chauvireria axaina Zelenkov, 2024 from the Late Miocene of the south of European Russia and probably Late Miocene to Early Pliocene of Ukraine, andChauvireria minor (Jdnossy,1974) from the Late Pliocene of Poland and Central Asia (Mongolia and Transbaikalia).[3]
Chauvireria was locally abundant, representing nearly 85% of the fossil avifauna in the Varshets locality.[1] It is speculated that this abundance in the fossil record may be due to the prevalence of the genus in the alimentation of the largeeagle owls suspected to be the reason for the accumulation of bones in both localities, that were during the Early Pleistocene parts of cave systems, that may have been used as an eyrie for these nocturnal raptors.[2]
During the MiddleVillafranchian, theVarshets locality in whichC. balcanica was discovered was a forested environment. The slightly youngerC. bulgarica lived in a more open environment, dominated byxerophytic vegetation. Slivnitsa was much drier than Varshets, and represents the first environmental changes caused by theglobal cooling at the beginning of thePleistocene. Boev links the extinction of both species of the genus to those wider changes.[2]
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