{{Short description|Extinct species of grebe}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}} {{Speciesbox |fossil_range = {{fossil_range|Messinian|Zanclean}} |image = |image_caption = |extinct = yes |taxon = Podiceps solidus |authority = Kuročkin, 1985 }}
'''''Podiceps solidus''''' is an extinct small species of Upper Miocene to Lower Pliocene grebe from Western Mongolia.
==History== The species was first described in 1985 by Kuročkin.<ref name="Kuročkin1985">{{cite journal |last1 = Kuročkin | first1= E. N. |year= 1985 |title= Birds of the Central Asia in Pliocene. |journal=Transactions of the Joint Soviet-Mongolian Paleontological Expedition |volume=26 |issue= |pages=1–120 }}</ref> Zelenkov would describe more material that is housed at the Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences in 2013.<ref name="Zelenkov2013"/>
==Description== The holotype (PIN 3222/37) is of a distal fragment of the right humerus.<ref name="Kuročkin1985"/> The additional material that would later be described by Zelenkov (2013) include a distal fragment of the left tibiotarsus (PIN 3378/98), a right coracoid (PIN 3378/113), and a distal portion of a tarsometatarsus (PIN 3378/96) from an immature bird. The size of the bones suggests a smaller species of grebe comparable to both black-necked grebe (''P. nigricollis'') and horned grebe (''P. auritus''). For example, the coracoid is most similar to the black-necked grebe, while the tibotarsus is more closer to those of horned grebes.<ref name="Zelenkov2013">{{cite book |last1 = Zelenkov | first1= N. V. |year= 2013 |chapter= New finds and revised taxa of Early Pliocene birds from Western Mongolia. |editor-last1=Göhlich|editor-first1=U. B.| editor-last2=Kroh|editor-first2=A. | title = Paleornithological Research 2013-Proceedings of the 8th International Meeting of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution.|series=Natural History Museum Vienna, Vienna |volume = |pages = 153–170 |chapter-url= https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259357289}}</ref>
==Classification== The species is a member of the genus ''Podiceps''. ''P. solidus'' was compared to ''P. pisanus'' of the Piacenzian Italy. ''P. pisanus'' is often considered to be a junior synonym of the horned grebe.<ref name="Olson&Rasmussen2001">{{Cite journal |last1=Olson |first1=S. L. |last2=Rasmussen |first2= P. C. |year=2001 |title=Miocene and Pliocene birds from the Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina. |journal=Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology |volume = 90 |issue = |pages = 233–365|doi=10.5479/si.00810266.90.233 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/351988 }}</ref><ref name="Mlikovsky">Mlíkovský, Jirí (2002): [https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/global_owl_project/descriptions/Fossil_owls/Mlikovski%202002%20Cenozoic%20birds%20of%20the%20world.pdf ''Cenozoic Birds of the World, Part 1: Europe'']. Ninox Press, Prague, p. 194.<!-- This should be treated with extreme caution as regards merging of species. Splits are usually good though. See also critical review in Auk121:623-627 here http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3793/is_200404/ai_n9396879 --></ref> Zelenkov (2013) argues, however, that ''P. solidus'' is not a junior synonym of either ''P. pisanus'' or the horned grebe, due to the aforementioned mosaic characters it has with both horned and black-necked grebes, possibly closely related to the last common ancestor of these species.<ref name="Zelenkov2013"/>
==Paleobiology== The temporal range of the specimens shows ''P. solidus'' existed from the Messinian to the Zanclean of Mongolia. The holotype was found at the locality Hyargas-Nuur 2 dating to the Upper Miocene, while the other specimens found at the localities Chono-Harayah 1 and 2, and Zogsoo-Harhan 1 and 4 dating to the Lower Pliocene.<ref name="Zelenkov2013"/> In a later paper that discusses the evolution of Neogene Central Asian avifauna Zelenkov (2016) noted how quickly grebes have established themselves in the region, going from primitive genera such as the Aquitanian ''Miobaptus'' to the modern ''Podiceps''.<ref name="Zelenkov2015">{{cite journal |last1 = Zelenkov | first1= N. V. |year= 2016 |title= Evolution of bird communities in the Neogene of Central Asia, with a review of the Neogene fossil record of Asian birds. |journal=Paleontological Journal |volume=50 |issue=12 |pages=1421–1433| doi= 10.1134/S0031030116120200 | bibcode= 2016PalJ...50.1421Z }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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solidus Category:Fossil taxa described in 1985 Category:Piacenzian species Category:Birds described in 1985