The birds of the Djurab pliocene faunas, Chad, central Africa

The Pliocene sites of the Djurab region (Chad, Africa) have yielded 19 avian remains. They belong to seven different taxa: a cormorant, Phalacrocorax cf. carbo, a darter, Anhinga cf. melanogaster, a heron (Ardeidae), a Ciconiidae of the tribe Leptoptilini, the size of the extant African species of marabou stork or Saddlebill, an extinct marabou stork (or adjutant) of large size - Leptoptilos sp. B, an Anserinae (swan or goose), and a duck (Anatinae). These birds indicate freshwater environments, a slow river or a lake. Also represented in the landscape were open as well as forested areas, like gallery forest. The avifaunas are thus well congruent with other paleoenvironmental results obtained at these sites, particularly regarding the humid character of the region in the Pliocene, and generally of the climate for that period in a part of the Sahel which is now desertic.