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We describe an articulated partial leg of an Oligocene bird. It is one of the smallest avian fossils ever recorded. Its slender and exceptionally short tarsometatarsus, hallux as long as the tarsometatarsus and stout moderately curved claws agree with stem-group Apodidae (swifts), stem-group Trochilidae (hummingbirds), and stem-group Upupidae/Phoeniculidae (hoopoes/woodhoopoes). Unfortunately, due to the poor preservation of the specimen its more precise affinities remain unresolved. The specimen differs in many details from all other tiny Palaeogene birds and therefore most probably it represents a new taxon but it is too fragmentary to describe it. It is just the twelfth avian fossil from the Oligocene marine deposits of the Outer Carpathians and Central Palaeogene Basin — a huge area that covers south-eastern Poland, north-eastern Czech Republic and northern Slovakia — and therefore it adds to our very limited knowledge on the avifauna of that region. The remains of land birds from Jamna Dolna and other sites of the region can be attributed to the general sea level fall at that time, which led to limitation of the connection with the open ocean and resulted in many shallow shoals, temporary islands and exposed dry land areas along the coast.

Upupiformes is the avian clade including extant hoopoes (Upupidae) and wood hoopoes (Phoeniculidae). Upupiform birds are abundantly represented in some Eocene fossil sites and are also known from early Miocene localities, but the fossil record in between is surprisingly scant. This gap of over 25 million years is bridged by two skeletons from the early Oligocene of Poland. One of the fossils is described as a new species, ?Laurillardia smoleni, sp. nov., the other is tentatively referred to Laurillardia munieri Flot, 1891. We detail that these stem group Upupiformes are more closely related to the crown group than are the Eocene Messelirrisoridae. The specimens show that very small upupiform birds coexisted with passerines (Passeriformes) for at least ten million years and challenge previous hypotheses that the arrival of passerines in Europe led to the demise of small non-passeriform arboreal birds. It remains elusive, why small upupiform birds became extinct in the Northern Hemisphere. Even though these insectivorous birds may not have found enough food after the emergence of cold Northern Hemispheric winters, it is an open question why very small-sized upupiform birds do not occur in the tropical regions of Asia but are today restricted to Africa south of the Sahara. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The taphonomic analysis of avian remains from Sarakenos Cave reveals that, contrary to previous suggestions, many bird bones excavated there represent food remains of the Eagle Owls rather than humans. The conclusion is based on the presence of traces of digestion, beak and claw punctures, and indirect evidence that includes relative preservation of particular elements, species composition, the lack of cut marks, and the absence of numerous traces of burning. Specimens with medullary bone and traces of digestion indicate that the owls killed breeding females in spring. Since it is unlikely that owls shared the cave with humans at the same time, it supports the notion based on archeological evidence that human groups did not inhabit it permanently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The leg bones of a small passeriform bird are described from the early Oligocene (29 Mya) of Poland. The specimen is the earliest complete passerine leg with elements in articulation described so far, and increases the known diversity of the very scanty records of the oldest European passeriforms. In general proportions the leg bones resemble those of Luscinia svecica and other species that live in shrubs. Assignment to a family within the passerines is not possible because of the incompleteness of the fossil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights the remains of the Oligocene bird of Poland, which can be found in the Menilite Fomations in the southeastern part of the country. The fragmentary fossil ZPALWr. A/4003 presents a extant Columbiformes of similar size, which resembles two extinct species of sandgrouse family Pteroclidae, which are Archaeoganga larvatus from Quercy, France and the Leptoganga sepultus from Saint Gerandle-Puy and Paulhiac, France. According to the author, the systematic affinities of ZPALWr. A/4003 cannot be resolved and it cannot also be considered as a new species due to its incompleteness.