Research

The research focus of the section is on the early evolution and higher-level phylogeny of birds.

In the past years, more than 130 new species of fossil birds were described from Paleogene (65-25 million years ago) deposits. Among these are numerous avian groups new to science, whose description extended the known diversity of the Paleogene avifauna. Many of these fossils further contributed to a better understanding of the evolution and historical biogeography of extant groups of birds.

List of newly described bird species (as at January 2023):

Messel:

1. Hassiavis laticauda Mayr, 1998
2. Primozygodactylus danielsi Mayr, 1998
3. Primozygodactylus major Mayr, 1998
4. Primozygodactylus ballmanni Mayr, 1998
5. Messelirrisor parvus Mayr, 1998
6. Messelirrisor halcyrostris Mayr, 1998
7. Gracilitarsus mirabilis Mayr, 1998
8. Quasisyndactylus longibrachis Mayr, 1998
9. Masillacolius brevidactylus Mayr & Peters, 1998
10. Psittacopes lepidus Mayr & Daniels, 1998
11. Pseudasturides macrocephalus (Mayr, 1998)
12. Masillapodargus longipes Mayr, 1999
13. Paraprefica kelleri Mayr, 1999
14. Paraprefica major Mayr, 1999
15. Pumiliornis tessellatus Mayr, 1999
16. Salmila robusta Mayr, 2000
17. Eocoracias brachyptera Mayr & Mourer-Chauviré, 2000
18. Messelirrisor grandis Mayr, 2000
19. Serudaptus pohli Mayr, 2000
20. Plesiocathartes kelleri Mayr, 2002
21. Masillastega rectirostris Mayr, 2002
22. Parargornis messelensis Mayr, 2003
23. Primobucco perneri Mayr, Mourer-Chauviré & Weidig, 2004
24. Primobucco frugilegus Mayr, Mourer-Chauviré & Weidig, 2004
25. Protocypselomorphus manfredkelleri Mayr, 2005
26. Chascacocolius cacicirostris Mayr, 2005
27. Masillatrogon pumilio (Mayr, 2005)
28. Eurofluvioviridavis robustipes Mayr, 2005
29. Masillaraptor parvunguis Mayr, 2006
30. Primozygodactylus eunjooae Mayr & Zelenkov, 2009
31. Perplexicervix microcephalon Mayr, 2010
32. Eopachypteryx praeterita Mayr, 2015
33. Primozygodactylus quintus Mayr, 2017
34. Primozygodactylus longibrachium Mayr, 2017
35. Vanolimicola longihallucis Mayr, 2017

Other localities:

1. Tynskya eocaena Mayr, 2000
2. Primotrogon wintersteini Mayr, 1999
3. Oligocolius brevitarsus Mayr, 2000
4. Miopico benimellalensis Mayr, 1998
5. Geranopterus milneedwardsi Mayr & Mourer-Chauviré, 2000
6. Cerestenia pulchrapenna Mayr, 2000
7. Turnipax dissipata Mayr, 2000
8. Fluvioviridavis platyrhamphus Mayr & Daniels, 2001
9. Boutersemia belgica Mayr & Smith, 2001
10. Boutersemia parvula Mayr & Smith, 2001
11. Belgirallus oligocaenus Mayr & Smith, 2001
12. Belgirallus minutus Mayr & Smith, 2001
13. Adelalopus hoogbutseliensis Mayr & Smith, 2002
14. Colymboides belgicus Mayr & Smith, 2002
15. Oligosylphe mourerchauvireae Mayr & Smith, 2002
16. Plesiocathartes geiselensis Mayr, 2002
17. ?Idiornis anthracinus Mayr, 2002
18. Bavaripsitta ballmanni Mayr & Göhlich, 2004
19. Eurotrochilus inexpectatus Mayr, 2004
20. ?Colymboides metzleri Mayr, 2004
21. Rupelramphastoides knopfi Mayr, 2005
22. Parvigrus pohli Mayr, 2005
23. Wieslochia weissi Mayr & Manegold, 2006
24. Vastanavis eocaena Mayr, Rana, Sahni & Smith, 2007
25. Walbeckornis creber Mayr, 2007
26. Gradiornis walbeckensis Mayr, 2007
27. Berruornis halbedeli Mayr, 2007
28. Fissuravis weigelti Mayr, 2007
29. Turnipax oechslerorum Mayr & Knopf, 2007
30. ?Borvocarbo stoeffelensis Mayr, 2007
31. ?Limicorallus carbunculus Mayr, 2009
32. Selenornis steendorpensis Mayr, 2009
33. Vastanavis cambayensis Mayr et al., 2010
34. Pelagornis chilensis Mayr and Rubilar, 2010
35. Mogontiacopsitta miocaena Mayr, 2010
36. Rhenanorallus rhenanus Mayr, 2010
37. Laricola intermedia De Pietri, Costeur, Güntert & Mayr, 2011
38. Laricola robusta De Pietri, Costeur, Güntert & Mayr, 2011
39. Sternalara minuta De Pietri, Costeur, Güntert & Mayr, 2011
40. Sternalara milneedwardsi De Pietri, Costeur, Güntert & Mayr, 2011
41. Piculoides saulcetensis De Pietri, Manegold, Costeur, & Mayr, 2011
42. Itaboravis elaphrocnemoides Mayr, Alvarenga & Clarke, 2011
43. Colymbiculus udovichenkoi Mayr & Zvonok, 2011
44. Hoazinavis lacustris Alvarenga, Mayr & Mourer-Chauviré, 2011
45. Pellornis mikkelseni Bertelli, Chiappe & Mayr, 2011
46. Sanshuiornis zhangi Wang, Mayr, Zhang & Zhou
47. Tydea septentrionalis Mayr & Smith, 2012
48. Lutetodontopteryx tethyensis Mayr & Zvonok, 2012
49. ?Elorius limosoides De Pietri & Mayr, 2012
50. ?Parvelorius calidris De Pietri & Mayr, 2012
51. Picavus litencicensis Mayr & Gregorová, 2012
52. Songzia acutunguis Wang, Mayr, Zhang & Zhou, 2012
53. Qianshanornis rapax Mayr, Yang, de Bast, Li & Smith, 2013
54. Saintandrea chenoides Mayr & De Pietri, 2013
55. Oligocolius psittacocephalon Mayr, 2013
56. Scandiavis mikkelseni Bertelli, Lindow, Dyke & Mayr, 2013
57. Australornis lowei Mayr & Scofield, 2014
58. Protoazin parisiensis Mayr & De Pietri, 2014
59. Nectornis africanus Mayr, 2014
60. Nupharanassa mabokoensis Mayr, 2014
61. Baselrallus intermedius De Pietri & Mayr, 2014
62. Ibidopodia minuta De Pietri & Mayr, 2014
63. Ibidopodia chavorchensis De Pietri & Mayr, 2014
64. Makahala mirae Mayr, 2015
65. Foshanornis songi Zhao, Mayr, Wang & Wang, 2015
66. Ypresiglaux („Eostrix“) gulottai (Mayr, 2015)
67. Olympidytes thieli Mayr & Goedert, 2016
68. Klallamornis abyssa Mayr & Goedert, 2016
69. ?Klallamornis clarki Mayr & Goedert, 2016
70. Diomedavus knapptonensis Mayr & Goedert, 2017
71. Kumimanu biceae Mayr et al., 2017
72. Muriwaimanu Mayr et al., 2017
73. Sequiwaimanu rosieae Mayr et al., 2018
74. ?Proardea deschutteri Mayr, De Pietri, Scofield & Smith, 2018
75. Miocariama patagonica Noriega & Mayr, 2018
76. Eofringillirostrum boudreauxi Ksepka, Mayr & Grande, 2019
77. Eofringillirostrum parvulum Mayr, Ksepka & Grande, 2019
78. ?Crossvallia waiparensis Mayr, De Pietri, Love, Mannering & Scofield, 2019
79. Carpathiavis meniliticus Mayr, 2019
80. Aldiomedes angustirostris Mayr & Tennyson, 2020
81. Primoptynx poliotauros Mayr, Gingerich & Smith, 2020
82. Palaeoplancus dammanni Mayr & Perner, 2020
83. ?Laurillardia smoleni Bochenski, Mayr, Tomek, Wertz, Bienkowska-Wasiluk & Manegold, 2020
84. Aviraptor oligocaenus Mayr & Hurum, 2020
85. Parapsittacopes bergdahli Mayr, 2020
86. Protodontopteryx ruthae Mayr, De Pietri, Love, Mannering & Scofield, 2021
87. Tynskya waltonensis Mayr, 2021
88. Archaeodromus anglicus Mayr, 2021
89. Allgoviachen tortonica Mayr, Lechner & Böhme, 2022
90. Danielsraptor phorusrhacoides Mayr & Kitchener, 2022
91. Nasidytes ypresianus Mayr & Kitchener, 2022
92. Ypresiglaux michaeldanielsi Mayr & Kitchener, 2022
93. Primoscens carolinae Mayr & Kitchener, 2022
94. Minutornis primoscenoides Mayr & Kitchener, 2022
95. Psittacomimus eos Mayr & Kitchener, 2022
96. ?Psittacopes occidentalis Mayr & Kitchener
97. Waltonavis paraleptosomus Mayr & Kitchener, 2022
98. Waltonavis danielsi Mayr & Kitchener, 2022
99. Lutavis platysomus Mayr & Kitchener, 2022
100. Plesiocathartes insolitipes Mayr & Kitchener, 2022
101. Rhynchaeites litoralis Mayr & Kitchener, 2023

In order to assess the phylogenetic affinities of these birds, the higher level phylogeny of extant birds also constitutes a research focus. New and meanwhile widely accepted phylogenetic hypotheses concern the affinities of, for example, owlet-nightjars (Aegothelidae) (Mayr 2002) and flamingos (Phoenicopteriformes) (Mayr 2004).

The head of the section is Associate Editor of the journal The Auk.