New data on the anatomy and palaeobiology of sandcoleid mousebirds (Aves, Coliiformes) from the early Eocene of Messel

The Sandcoleidae are stem group representatives of the Coliiformes (mousebirds). These birds are among the most abundant medium-sized arboreal birds in some early and middle Eocene fossil sites of Europe and North America, and they are particularly well represented in the German locality Messel. Here, new sandcoleid fossils from Messel are reported. Most of these are tentatively assigned to Eoglaucidium pallas, which is the only named European...