Fossil remains of Euroceros bulgaricus found in Bulgaria provide Europe’s first record of hornbills, the National Museum of Natural History at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) said on Friday. A total of 24 fossil bird taxa, including three genera and 11 species new to science, have been identified at 17 Neogene sites in Bulgaria. The findings are presented in the first comprehensive review of Bulgaria’s Neogene avifauna, the museum said.
The study, by Zlatozar Boev, was published in the scientific journal Geologica Balcanica under the title “Connecting Europe and Asia: The Neogene birds of Bulgaria and their paleoenvironmental and paleornithogeographical significance”.
The study brings together results from palaeontological research carried out over the past three decades. Of the 17 sites, 12 date to the Miocene and five to the Pliocene. The Late Miocene site at Hadzhidimovo has the greatest species diversity, with five taxa, followed by Hrabarsko, Dorkovo and Muselievo, with three each.
The discoveries include Europe’s first hornbill finds, some of the earliest fossil snake eagles, Neogene pheasants and Bulgaria’s first recorded remains of ostriches, peafowl, swans, falcons and larks.
Particularly significant is Euroceros bulgaricus, representing a new genus and species of ground hornbill and the first fossil record of the family Bucerotidae in Europe. The researchers say this indicates that these birds ranged across Africa, Europe and Asia during the Late Miocene, whereas today the family inhabits sub-Saharan Africa and the Indo-Malayan zoogeographical region.
Another significant find is the Rhodope snake eagle (Circaetus rhodopensis), identified as the earliest known fossil representative of this group worldwide. The Bulgarian pheasant (Phasianus bulgaricus) provides the earliest known Neogene record of true pheasants in Europe.
The study shows that nearly half of the birds identified inhabited open landscapes. These include ostriches, ground hornbills, falcons, snake eagles and larks. Around one-quarter were associated with aquatic habitats and approximately one-eighth with woodland.
The presence of ostriches, peafowl and ground hornbills indicates that both open savanna-steppe landscapes and wooded habitats existed in what is now Bulgaria during the Neogene, the researchers said.
Waterbirds also provide evidence of ancient environments. Remains of the swan Cygnus verae indicate the existence of a large lake in the Sofia Basin during the Pliocene. An almost complete gull skeleton found near Hrabarsko points to a large inland body of water during the Early Miocene.
The Balkan Peninsula served as a transitional biogeographical zone between Europe, Asia and Africa, the study finds. Climatic changes during the Late Miocene and Pliocene, involving increasing aridity and expanding grasslands, facilitated the dispersal of different groups of birds.
Although the Bulgarian finds account for a small share of global fossil bird diversity, they are important for understanding avian evolution, distribution and ecological history in Southeastern Europe. The study appears in volume 55, issue 2 of Geologica Balcanica for 2026, the museum said.
Bulgarian Fossils Provide Europe’s First Record of Hornbills THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-10-23 09:03:13
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