''Miodytes'' is a fossil genus of grebe known from a nearly complete specimen from

Valjevo Basin Valjevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Ваљево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Kolubara District in western Serbia. According to the 2011 census, the administrative area of Valjevo had 90,312 inhabitants, 59,073 of whom were urban dwell ...

, western Serbia known from an almost complete right wing skeleton. It contains a single species, ''M. serbicus''.

History

The specimen was collected from Bela Stena, Suseoke village. The binomial nomenclature for ''Miodytes serbicus'' means "Serbian Miocene diver".

Description

The holotype specimen of ''Miodytes'' is a slab that contains the right wing skeleton of the bird, nearly completed, consisting of the distal fragment of humerus, ulna, radius, carpometacarpus and parts of the wingtips. Due to the nature of the bones in the slab, the authors Dimitreijevich et al. (2002) used the humerus part and the carpometacarpus to provide comparative anatomy and a diagnosis. ''Miodytes'' can be differentiated from other grebes as the genus has a well developed epicondylus ventralis and a very deep and long sulcus musculi brachialis. The processus supracondylaris dorsalis is absent from the humerus. There are elements that are similar to grebes, petrels, and shorebirds from the specimen in which the authors proclaimed of the three groups, ''Miodytes'' is most similar to grebes.

Classification

While Dimitreijevich et al. (2002) classifies ''Miodytes'' as a grebe, Ksepka et al. (2013) do not agree with the assessment. They are argued the diagnostic features that separate ''Miodytes'' from other grebes are more align with other seabirds. They stated there is no unambiguous synapomorphies that can confidently identify ''Miodytes'' as a grebe. Ksepka et al. (2013) argued at best ''Miodytes'' is a member of

Mirandornithes Mirandornithes () is a clade that consists of flamingos and grebes. Many scholars use the term Phoenicopterimorphae for the superorder containing flamingoes and grebes. Determining the relationships of both groups has been problematic. Flamingos ...

, as it does have a strongly elongate phalanx II-1 which lacks an internal indicus proces. More specimens are needed to established the taxonomic placement of this bird.

Paleobiology

''Miodytes'' is from the Early Miocene from the "Bela Stena series" from Valjevo Basin. The site is the oldest recorded lake formation with records of plant and insect remains, fish bones, and feathers. Fragmentary bird fossils have been retrieved but most cannot be identified at the species level. Inferring from the ecology of modern grebes and how the specimen was preserved, Dimitreijevich et al. (2002) suggested ''Miodytes'' was a migratory species and the individual died from an accident, not predation.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q84237719 Podicipediformes Prehistoric bird genera