The Dwarf Maltese swan

Abstract

Bate (1916) gave the name Cygnus equitum to fossil bones she considered to be those of a dwarf extinct swan. Lambrecht (1933) and Howard (1964) agreed with Bate. However, the eminent authority Brodkorb (1964) named these bones Anser equitum, considering them to belong to a large extinct goose. Bate (1916) briefly described the holotype (a carpometacarpus) and paratypes Ca proximal humerus and a coracoid) that came from deposits at Ghar Dalam, Malta. This type-series (Specimens 20 and 21) is in the National Museum of Natural History, Malta (NMM). Casts of the bones (Specimens A1613, A1614, and A1615), labelled Anser eguitum, are in the British Museum (Natural History) (BMNH). Among other anseriform bones from those museums and the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge ( UMZC) I found further equitum fossils (chiefly also of fore-limbs) from elsewhere in Malta. It is now possible to ascertain the genus and affinities of the bird and suggest its size, form and habit, particularly with respect to Bate's claim that equitum was flightless.