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Résumé :
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Presented here is a record of a piciform bird from a late Oligocene fissure filling from Germany. This is the earliest known fossil record of a modern-type piciform bird and the only one from deposits earlier than Miocene. The specimen, an isolated tarsometatarsus, is similar in size and proportions to the tarsometatarsus of the recent Cardinal-Woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens, Picidae). However, owing to its fragmented state a reliable assignment to any of the recent piciform families is not possible.
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