The first record of birds from Mill (The Netherlands)

Abstract

Presented here is the first record of birds from the gravel pit Langeboom, in Mill, The Netherlands. Langeboom is considered to be of Pliocene age and therefore, this would be the earliest known fossil record of modern-type birds and the only ones from deposits earlier than Pleistocene. Two specimens, an isolated ulna and a fragment of a tarsometatarsus, resemble those of Lagopus sp. and Anas platyrhynchos. The third specimen, an undetermined fragment, is described as Aves indet. Owing to its fragmented state a reliable assignment to any of the recent families is not possible.