Eudromia
Elegant Crested Tinamou, by Dick Daniels, CC BY-SA 4.0
Name: Eudromia
Status: Extant
First Described: 1832
Described By: I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire
Classification: Dinosauria, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Palaeognathae, Notopalaeognathae, Tinamiformes + Dinornithiformes Clade, Tinamiformes, Nothurinae
Referred Species: E. elegans (Elegant Crested Tinamou, extnat), E. formosa (Quebrancho Crested Tinamou, extant), E. olsoni (extinct), E. intermedia (extinct)
Eudromia is our next genus of Tinamou, and they’re distinct for their crests on the top of their heads - giving all species of this genus a rather distinct look compared to other Tinamou. Only two species are alive today, the Elegant Crested Tinamou and the Quebrancho Crested Tinamou, but there were quite a few extinct forms during the Pliocene and latest Miocene - indicating that this genus probably first appeared somewhere around 7 to 5 million years ago.
E. olsoni, by José Carlos Cortés on @quetzalcuetzpalin-art
The older known extinct species, E. intermedia, isn’t very will described or discussed - having been found in 1914. It lived in the Monte Hermoso Formation of Argentina - the Early Pliocene portion, from about 5.3 to 3.6 million years ago, in the Zanclean of the Pliocene. It probably evolved directly into - or was very closely related to - the later (and better known) E. olsoni. E. olsoni is also from the Monte Hermoso Formation, but from the later member - so it lived in the Piacenzian of the Pliocene, about 3.6 to 2.6 million years ago. It is known form elements of the legs and pelvis, which show that E. olsoni was very closely related to its modern relatives, and in fact the three form a clade together (closely related to the non-crested Tinamotis). E. olsoni would have been very similar to its modern relatives, and probably also had some sort of crest on its head.
Elegant Crested Tinamou, by Stavenn, CC BY 2.5
As for living species, both of them are not endangered and living in the shrublands of lower South America. The Elegant Crested Tinamou lives in Chile and Argentina, and is about 39 to 41 centimeters long on average. They look like weirdly proportioned partridges with their striped feathers and crests. They lay green, shiny eggs in hollows in the ground, which are incubated and then reared by the males. The babies are very precocial, as with all tinamou. The Elegant Crested Tinamou also forms large flocks, unlike most other Tinamou. They make loud, sad-sounding whistles for calls. The Quebracho Crested Tinamou lives in Paraguay and Argentina, and is 39 centimeters in length. They’re usually greyish brown and blackish with some white spots, and the males once again rear the young. Both enjoy eating fruit and small amounts of invertebrates, seeds, and roots.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eudromia
http://fossilworks.org/?a=collectionSearch&collection_no=152085
Bertelli, S, L. M. Chiappe, G. Mayr. 2014. Phylogenetic interrelationships of living and extinct Tinamidae, volant palaeognathous birds form the New World. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 172: 145 - 184.
Cenizo, M. M., C. P. Tambussi, C. I. Montalvo. 2012.Late Miocene continental birds from the Cerro Azul Formation in the Pampean region (central-southern Argentina). Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Paleongology 36(1): 47 - 68.
Tambussi, C. P., J. I. Noriega, E. P. Tonni. 1993. Late Cenozoic Birds of Buenos Aires Province (Argentina): an attempt to document quantitative faunal changes. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 101: 117 - 129.
