Data for: Early Eocene fossils elucidate the evolutionary history of the Charadriiformes (shorebirds and allies)

We report charadriiform and charadriiform-like birds from the early Eocene London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze (Essex, UK). A partial skeleton of a small modern-type charadriiform is described as a new species, Charadriisimilis essexensis, gen. et sp. nov. and most closely resembles taxa of the Charadrii (plovers, stilts, oystercatchers, and other “wader-like” shorebirds). Affinities to this clade were also supported by phylogenetic analyses, which placed the fossil as the sister taxon of either the Burhinidae or all crown group Charadrii. In addition, we identify specimens of the charadriiform-like taxon Scandiavis, which was before only known from the early Eocene Fur Formation in Denmark. Associated limb elements of two individuals are classified as Scandiavis cf. mikkelseni, and remains of two further individuals are tentatively assigned to Scandiavis. The presence of a processus supracondylaris dorsalis on the previously unknown humerus corroborates charadriiform affinities of Scandi..., , , # Data for: Early Eocene fossils elucidate the evolutionary history of the Charadriiformes (shorebirds and allies)

---

\"Charadriisimilis.ss\" is the nexus file used for the analysis\
\"Mayr and Kitchener Electronic Supplementary Material\" contains the character descriptions and character matrix

## Description of the data and file structure

\"Charadriisimilis.ss\" is the nexus file used for the analysis

\"Mayr and Kitchener Electronic Supplementary Material\" contains the character descriptions and character matrix

## Sharing/Access information

This is a section for linking to other ways to access the data, and for linking to sources the data is derived from, if any.

Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data:
N/A

Data was derived from the following sources:
N/A

## Code/Software

N/A