The Oldest Finds of the Genera Melanitta, Marmaronetta, and Other Ducks (Aves: Anatidae) from the Lower Pleistocene of the Crimea

Material on ducks from the Lower Pleistocene (about 1.8 Ma) of Taurida Cave in the Crimea represents forms new to the locality: Melanitta kirbori sp. nov., Marmaronetta angustirostris, Spatula querquedula, Anas aff. A. acuta, and Anas aff. A. platyrhynchos. In addition, new material on the previously known taxa Spatula praeclypeata Zelenkov, 2022 and Tadorna petrina Kurochkin, 1985 is described. The assemblage of ducks from Taurida Cave is the oldest representative fauna of Anatidae for the Early Pleistocene of Europe. The finds of the genera Melanitta and Marmaronetta are the oldest in the fossil record on a global scale. The finds of ducks from the groups of mallards (Anas aff. A. platyrhynchos) and pintails (Anas aff. A. acuta) are the oldest known for these lineages, marking the dispersal of the ancestors of modern Palearctic species from Africa to Eurasia. The evolutionary history of the anatid taxa found in the cave is discussed.