A New Fossil Species of Roller (Aves: Coraciidae) from the Lower Pleistocene of Crimea

A new species of roller, Coracias chauvireae sp. nov., is described from the Lower Pleistocene of the Taurida Cave (central Crimea) based on a complete tarsometatarsus. This is the second finding of the family Coraciidae in the Lower Pleistocene of Eurasia and the oldest for the genus Coracias on the continent. The new species is close to the lineage C. caudatus-C. garrulus, which is of African origin, but apparently diverged earlier than the modern species in this group. The previous assignment of Eurystomus beremendensis Kessler, 2010 from the Lower Pliocene of Hungary to the family Coraciidae is shown to be erroneous, and this taxon is here transferred to the genus Falco. Differentiation of modern subspecies of the European roller (Coracias garrulus garrulus and C. g. semenowi) by size and proportions of the tarsometatarsus is revealed for the first time.