NO. 5 CHECK-LIST OF FOSSIL BIRDS — WETMORE 3 



The family Mancallidae is added for the two species of Mancalla at 

 present recognized, since resemblance between these and the great auk 

 appears due to convergence. The two west-coast forms differ from 

 other auks in the marked modification of the wing for use as a flipper. 

 The genera Paloelodus and Megapaloclodiis have been placed with the 

 typical flamingos in the Phoenicopteridae, a group to which they are 

 unquestionably related. Dr. Hildegarde Howard recently pointed out 

 their differences in the shorter, heavier metatarsus, nonpneumatic 

 femur, and different form in the tibiotarsus and has proposed the 

 family Paloelodidae. To the differences outlined by Dr. Howard 

 there may be added the form of the bill, which, to judge from one 

 incomplete specimen of Paloelodus ambiguiis Milne Edwards of the 

 Oligocene of western Europe, was gooselike and not bent downward 

 as in the true flamingos. It may be noted also that the toes in Paloe- 

 lodus were definitely longer. 



The modern species that occur in the fossil record are distinguished 

 from those not known in living form by the inclusion of a common 

 name in the heading and the statement that the bird is one found in 

 modern form. Most of these are listed under specific scientific names 

 without regard to local race, since most subspecies may not be identi- 

 fied from bones. It is extremely doubtful procedure in most instances 

 to assume that Pleistocene subspecies were the same as those en- 

 countered in the region today, and assumption of race is made only 

 where there is reasonable certainty of the identification. The specific 

 names therefore are used in an inclusive sense, though it is evident in 

 wide-ranging groups that two or more subspecies may be covered in 

 the fossil record, for example, in the ruffed grouse, Bonasa umbellus, 

 where bones identified as this .species are known from such widely 

 separated localities as Maryland and California. This should be under- 

 stood particularly in cases like that of the raven, Corvus corax, or 

 marsh hawk. Circus cyaneus, where the range extends to other con- 

 tinents. 



The present list gives the record of 189 forms still living, and of 

 248 species recorded only in an extinct state, this including 1 1 kinds 

 known only from bones in cave or midden deposits of Recent age. 

 There remain the 12 additional names of uncertain status listed at the 

 end under the heading incertae sedis. The increase from the 165 

 modern forms and 184 extinct species of the list of 1940 is indicative 

 of the growth in knowledge in this field during the comparatively brief 

 interval of 15 years but reveals only part of the increase since many 

 additional records have been found for numerous living species in- 

 cluded in 1940. 



