TINY HOOPOE-LIKE BIRDS FROM THE MIDDLE EOCENE OF MESSEL (GERMANY)

Tiny hoopoe-like birds of the extinct family Messelirrisoridae are among the predominant small perching birds in the Middle Eocene (ca. 49 million years ago) avifauna of Messel (Hessen, Germany). Members of the Messelirrisoridae are the earliest-known representatives of the hoopoe/wood-hoopoe lineage and are sister taxa of recent Upupidae (hoopoes) and Phoeniculidae (wood-hoopoes). Outgroup comparison with the Messelirrisoridae facilitates character-state analysis within the Phoeniculidae and Upupidae. In this study, I describe a new species, Messelirrisor grandis, which is the largest species of the Messelirrisoridae known so far.