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The Chionoidea are a small, southern hemispheric shorebird clade that today includes the Magellanic Plover (Pluvianellidae) and two species of sheathbills (Chionidae). Here we describe the first fossil remains attributable to this group. The two newly described species, the early MioceneNeilus sansomaegen. et sp. nov. from New Zealand and the late OligoceneChionoides australiensisgen. et sp. nov. from South Australia, are overall more similar to sheathbills, but the mosaic of characters shared with both Chionidae and Pluvianellidae preclude referral to either lineage. Attribution of fossils this age to these lineages also conflicts with divergence dates based on molecular data, as the split between the Magellanic Plover and sheathbills is hypothesised to be more recent. We therefore suggest that these Australasian, plover-size species represent the first record of stem-group taxa within Chionoidea. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:2A5A2FD1-C3B5-4BAB-88D8-5862FE9E7976 [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The first pre-Quaternary anurans from New Zealand are reported from the Early Miocene (19–16 Ma) St Bathans Fauna based on 10 fossil bones. Four bones representing two new species differing in size are described inLeiopelma: Leiopelmatidae, and are the first Tertiary records for the family. Six indeterminate frog fossils are morphologically similar to leiopelmatids and represent two species consistent in size with those known from diagnostic material. These records are highly significant, as minimally, they reduce the duration of the leiopelmatid ‘ghost lineage’ by c.20 million years and demonstrate that a diversity of leiopelmatids has long been present on New Zealand, supporting the ancient dichotomy of the extant species based on molecular data. Leiopelma miocaenaleWorthy, Tennyson, Scofield & Hand in pressurn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:83F24868-A212-435B-B892-AD510796B5BB Leiopelma acricarinaWorthy, Tennyson, Scofield & Hand in pressurn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:D3955F53-37C2-4EAD-B0BC-CE8D23FCD51B [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]