부산대학교 도서관

Several post-cranial bones of small birds collected from Early Miocene deposits at Grillental in the Sperrgebiet, Namibia, are attributed to three groups, a small parrot-like species (Psittaculidae), a songbird (Passeriformes) and a gamebird (Galliformes). All three are among the earliest records of their respective groups in Africa. The lovebird specimens, in particular, greatly extend the fossil record of the family in the continent from the previous earliest record at Langebaanweg, South Africa (ca 6-5 Ma) to the Early Miocene (ca 20-19 Ma). The material is an interesting source of information about palaeoenvironments and palaeoclimate and, as an assemblage, it indicates that the locality was more humid than it is today, and that it lay within the summer rainfall belt, in contrast to the hyper-arid conditions with winter rainfall that prevail in this part of the continent at present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]