New specimens of the avian taxa <Emphasis Type="Italic">Eurotrochilus</Emphasis> (Trochilidae) and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Palaeotodus</Emphasis> (Todidae) from the early Oligocene of Germany

We describe new specimens of stem group representatives of Trochilidae (hummingbirds) and Todidae (todies) from the Rupelian of Frauenweiler in southern Germany. The hummingbird fossil constitutes the fourth record of Eurotrochilus inexpectatus. It consists only of wing and pectoral girdle elements, but shows the previously unknown crista deltopectoralis of the humerus, whose shape differs from modern hummingbirds. The carpometacarpus bears a well-developed processus intermetacarpalis, which is a further synapomorphy of Eurotrochilus and crown group Trochilidae. The disarticulated partial skeleton of the tody allows a definitive taxonomic assignment of the Frauenweiler species to Palaeotodus itardiensis Mourer-Chauviré, and likewise exhibits so far unknown osteological details, including the morphologies of the quadrate and scapula. We further comment on the exceptional taphonomy and preservation of avian fossils from the Frauenweiler clay pit, where terrestrial birds are represented only by small to very small species, whose skeletons are always strongly disarticulated.