NEW BIRD SPECIES DISCOVERED IN PERU: Machaeropterus Eckelberryi

Machaeropterus eckelberryi. Image credit: Andy Kratter, Florida Museum of Natural History.

The Machaeropterus eckelberryi was just found in southwestern Loreto, Peru. However, in 1994, it was mistakenly thought to be another species: striped manakin (Machaeropterus regulus) found in the Cordillera Azul mountain range. It's named after 20th century bird illustrator Don Eckelberry.

Researchers realized it was a new species when hearing its unique chirping. 

“Machaeropterus eckelberryi’s song lacks undertones and has a one-noted rising vocalization, rather than two-noted falling vocalization with undertones or a falling monosyllabic vocalization with undertones.”

“With its bright yellow front feathers, the bird was different from a local subspecies of the striped manakin, but nearly identical to the subspecies Machaeropterus regulus aureopectus found in the distant Venezuelan tepuis, but it has a completely different voice,” explains ornithologist Dr. Andy Kratter, of the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science.

“Even if we weren’t discovering new species, just exploring regions of the world that are still poorly known and getting a better picture of where species are distributed, what habitats they use and how we may use this knowledge to preserve them is a worthwhile activity,” says Dr. Daniel Lane, a research associate at Louisiana State University.

“Peru still has many treasures hidden in unexplored nooks and crannies, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the opportunity to uncover them. To this day, it may be some of the most virgin terrain I’ve ever visited.”

“Finding the new species and the isolated mountain ridge were important for the scientific community, in part because the discovery spurred Peru to preserve the area,” Dr. Kratter says.

“The Peruvian government established a national park in the area in the early 2000s, mainly as a result of finding this novel diversity in this area, which our expedition did.”

“Finding these guys opened up a little more inventory and exploration, which led to the formation of this gigantic national park.”

Machaeropterus eckelberryi is described in a paper published in the September 15, 2017 issue of the journal Zootaxa.

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Sources:

http://www.sci-news.com/biology/machaeropterus-eckelberryi-new-bird-species-peru-05353.html

Daniel F. Lane et al. 2017. A new species of manakin (Aves: Pipridae; Machaeropterus) from Peru with a taxonomic reassessment of the Striped Manakin (M. regulus) complex. Zootaxa 4320 (2); doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4320.2.11

100 Million Year Old baby Bird Found Trapped in Amber

You know, ancient insects were not the only things trapped in amber back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. In fact just this year we found bird wings, dinosaur feathers and now this...a nearly intact baby bird from around 100 million years ago, in fact, the most complete prehistoric bird we have ever found.

 Scientists found the amber in Myanmar and inside you can see bird’s head, tail, neck and especially the wings and feet. It's really incredible because the tree resin perfectly preserved even the feathers, flesh and claws.

"It's the most complete and detailed view we've ever had," one of the team behind the discovery, Ryan McKellar from the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Canada, told New Scientist. “Seeing something this complete is amazing. It’s just stunning.” He said.

This bird belonged to a group known as enantiornithes or opposite birds, which went extinct about 65 million years ago at the end of the cretaceous period along with the dinosaurs.

These birds appear to look like birds of today but according to new scientist  they had a socket-and-ball joint in their shoulders where modern birds have a ball-and-socket joint – hence the name. They also had claws on their wings, and jaws and teeth rather than beaks.

It is still a mystery why these birds died off while other ancestors of modern birds did not. Researchers think this might have something to do with the fact that these birds’ were lousy parents and often just left the babies to fend for themselves. Also researchers believed that these birds were actually hatched on the ground and then climbed up into the trees, which might explain why these birds were so easily stuck in tree sap.

The amber was Mined in the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. Amber found in this region contain some of the largest variety of life from the cretaceous period which was from 145 to 65 million years ago.

And if you are already thinking a Jurassic Park scenario in your head, you’re probably not alone. Unfortunately there really is not much DNA left, as the flesh has already turned into unusable carbon.