Alopochen sp.

Mourer-Chauviré, Cécile & Geraads, Denis, 2010, The Upper Pliocene Avifauna of Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco. Systematics and Biogeography, Records of the Australian Museum 62 (1), pp. 157-184 : 167

Alopochen sp. cf. A. aegyptiacus (Linnaeus, 1766)

Material. Right femur, proximal part, AaO-2660.

The proximal part of the Crista trochanteris is broken. This femur is similar to the genus Alopochen because the proximal part is mediolaterally compressed. The head is very globular and clearly raised compared to the proximal articular surface, but not very medially projecting. The neck is not very marked. There is a Linea intermuscularis cranialis that runs along the medial border of the proximal cranial surface.

The measurements are (in mm): proximal width (including head), 17.1; proximal depth, 12.4. They are included in the variation range of 10 Recent specimens of A. aegyptiacus from the USNM collection, the measurements of which are: proximal width, 14.9–20.6 (mean 17.31); proximal depth, 11.0–13.7 (mean 12.01).

This femur shows a deposit of medullary bone, which indicates that it belonged to a female and that this female died during the breeding season ( Rick, 1975). At the present time, the Egyptian Goose is only found in Sub-Saharan Africa and in the central part of the Nile valley but formerly it was also present throughout the Nile valley, the Middle East and Southern Europe ( Brown et al., 1982; del Hoyo et al., 1992). According to Cramp & Simmons (1977) it used to breed in Algeria and Tunisia.