1
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Miller CV, Bright JA, Wang X, Zheng X, Pittman M. Synthetic analysis of trophic diversity and evolution in Enantiornithes with new insights from Bohaiornithidae. eLife 2024; 12:RP89871. [PMID: 38687200 PMCID: PMC11060716 DOI: 10.7554/elife.89871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Enantiornithines were the dominant birds of the Mesozoic, but understanding of their diet is still tenuous. We introduce new data on the enantiornithine family Bohaiornithidae, famous for their large size and powerfully built teeth and claws. In tandem with previously published data, we comment on the breadth of enantiornithine ecology and potential patterns in which it evolved. Body mass, jaw mechanical advantage, finite element analysis of the jaw, and traditional morphometrics of the claws and skull are compared between bohaiornithids and living birds. We find bohaiornithids to be more ecologically diverse than any other enantiornithine family: Bohaiornis and Parabohaiornis are similar to living plant-eating birds; Longusunguis resembles raptorial carnivores; Zhouornis is similar to both fruit-eating birds and generalist feeders; and Shenqiornis and Sulcavis plausibly ate fish, plants, or a mix of both. We predict the ancestral enantiornithine bird to have been a generalist which ate a wide variety of foods. However, more quantitative data from across the enantiornithine tree is needed to refine this prediction. By the Early Cretaceous, enantiornithine birds had diversified into a variety of ecological niches like crown birds after the K-Pg extinction, adding to the evidence that traits unique to crown birds cannot completely explain their ecological success.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jen A Bright
- School of Natural Sciences, University of HullHullUnited Kingdom
| | - Xiaoli Wang
- Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Linyi UniversityLinyiChina
- Shandong Tianyu Museum of NatureShandongChina
| | - Xiaoting Zheng
- Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Linyi UniversityLinyiChina
- Shandong Tianyu Museum of NatureShandongChina
| | - Michael Pittman
- School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong KongHong Kong SARChina
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2
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Kiat Y, O’Connor JK. Functional constraints on the number and shape of flight feathers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2306639121. [PMID: 38346196 PMCID: PMC10895369 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2306639121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/30/2023] [Indexed: 02/15/2024] Open
Abstract
As a fundamental ecological aspect of most organisms, locomotor function significantly constrains morphology. At the same time, the evolution of novel locomotor abilities has produced dramatic morphological transformations, initiating some of the most significant diversifications in life history. Despite significant new fossil evidence, it remains unclear whether volant locomotion had a single or multiple origins in pennaraptoran dinosaurs and the volant abilities of individual taxa are controversial. The evolution of powered flight in modern birds involved exaptation of feathered surfaces extending off the limbs and tail yet most studies concerning flight potential in pennaraptorans do not account for the structure and morphology of the wing feathers themselves. Analysis of the number and shape of remex and rectrix feathers across a large dataset of extant birds indicates that the number of remiges and rectrices and the degree of primary vane asymmetry strongly correlate with locomotor ability revealing important functional constraints. Among these traits, phenotypic flexibility varies reflected by the different rates at which morphological changes evolve, such that some traits reflect the ancestral condition, whereas others reflect current locomotor function. While Mesozoic birds and Microraptor have remex morphologies consistent with extant volant birds, that of anchiornithines deviate significantly providing strong evidence this clade was not volant. The results of these analyses support a single origin of dinosaurian flight and indicate the early stages of feathered wing evolution are not sampled by the currently available fossil record.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yosef Kiat
- Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL60605
| | - Jingmai K. O’Connor
- Negaunee Integrative Research Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL60605
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3
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Brownstein CD. A juvenile bird with possible crown-group affinities from a dinosaur-rich Cretaceous ecosystem in North America. BMC Ecol Evol 2024; 24:20. [PMID: 38336630 PMCID: PMC10858573 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-024-02210-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Living birds comprise the most speciose and anatomically diverse clade of flying vertebrates, but their poor early fossil record and the lack of resolution around the relationships of the major clades have greatly obscured extant avian origins. RESULTS Here, I describe a Late Cretaceous bird from North America based on a fragmentary skeleton that includes cranial material and portions of the forelimb, hindlimb, and foot and is identified as a juvenile based on bone surface texture. Several features unite this specimen with crown Aves, but its juvenile status precludes the recognition of a distinct taxon. The North American provenance of the specimen supports a cosmopolitan distribution of early crown birds, clashes with the hypothesized southern hemisphere origins of living birds, and demonstrates that crown birds and their closest relatives coexisted with non-avian dinosaurs that independently converged on avian skeletal anatomy, such as the alvarezsaurids and dromaeosaurids. CONCLUSIONS By revealing the ecological and biogeographic context of Cretaceous birds within or near the crown clade, the Lance Formation specimen provides new insights into the contingent nature of crown avian survival through the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction and the subsequent origins of living bird diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chase Doran Brownstein
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
- , Stamford, USA.
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4
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Zhou Y, Pan Y, Wang M, Wang X, Zheng X, Zhou Z. Fossil evidence sheds light on sexual selection during the early evolution of birds. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2309825120. [PMID: 38190528 PMCID: PMC10801838 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2309825120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2023] [Accepted: 11/16/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024] Open
Abstract
The impact of sexual selection on the evolution of birds has been widely acknowledged. Although sexual selection has been hypothesized as a driving force in the occurrences of numerous morphological features across theropod evolution, this hypothesis has yet to be comprehensively tested due to challenges in identifying the sex of fossils and by the limited sample size. Confuciusornis sanctus is arguably the best-known early avialan and is represented by thousands of well-preserved specimens from the Early Cretaceous Jehol lagerstätte, which provides us with a chance to decipher the strength of sexual selection on extinct vertebrates. Herein, we present a morphometric study of C. sanctus based on the largest sample size of this taxon collected up to now. Our results indicate that the characteristic elongated paired rectrices is a sexually dimorphic trait and statistically robust inferences of the sexual dimorphism in size, shape, and allometry that have been established, providing the earliest known sexual dimorphism in avian evolution. Our findings suggest that sexual selection, in conjunction with natural selection, does act upon body size and limb length ratio in early birds, thereby promoting a deeper understanding of the role of sexual selection in large-scale phylogenetic evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yibo Zhou
- State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Centre for Research and Education on Biological Evolution and Environment and Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, Nanjing University, Nanjing210023, China
| | - Yanhong Pan
- State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Centre for Research and Education on Biological Evolution and Environment and Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, Nanjing University, Nanjing210023, China
| | - Min Wang
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100044, China
| | - Xiaoli Wang
- Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Linyi University, Linyi276000, Shandong, China
- Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature, Pingyi273300, Shandong, China
| | - Xiaoting Zheng
- Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Linyi University, Linyi276000, Shandong, China
- Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature, Pingyi273300, Shandong, China
| | - Zhonghe Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing100044, China
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5
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Wang S, Li L, Zhao C, Rummy P, Wang R, Hu D. Redescription and phylogenetic affinities of the Early Cretaceous enantiornithine Dapingfangornis sentisorhinus. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2023. [PMID: 37905495 DOI: 10.1002/ar.25341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2023] [Revised: 09/27/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023]
Abstract
Dapingfangornis sentisorhinus, a small to medium-sized enantiornithine from the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation in Western Liaoning, China, stands as one of the earliest known enantiornithines with well-preserved ornamental tail feathers. However, the original holotype description was limited due to damage and matrix interference, which obscured crucial osteological details. Therefore, we provide an updated description of the holotype specimen of D. sentisorhinus with the aid of CT scanning to reveal new and revised osteological information. Furthermore, a phylogenetic analysis of newly acquired data situates Dapingfangornis within the Enantiornithes, closely aligned with Pterygornis and a few other taxa, which may represent a previously unrecognized clade of Early Cretaceous enantiornithines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiying Wang
- College of Paleontology, Paleontological Museum of Liaoning, Key Laboratory for Evolution of Past Life and Change of Environment, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang, People's Republic of China
| | - Li Li
- College of Paleontology, Paleontological Museum of Liaoning, Key Laboratory for Evolution of Past Life and Change of Environment, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang, People's Republic of China
| | - Cuilin Zhao
- Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Paul Rummy
- Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Renfei Wang
- Graduate School, Shenyang University of Technology, Shenyang, People's Republic of China
| | - Dongyu Hu
- College of Paleontology, Paleontological Museum of Liaoning, Key Laboratory for Evolution of Past Life and Change of Environment, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang, People's Republic of China
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6
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Xu L, Wang M, Chen R, Dong L, Lin M, Xu X, Tang J, You H, Zhou G, Wang L, He W, Li Y, Zhang C, Zhou Z. A new avialan theropod from an emerging Jurassic terrestrial fauna. Nature 2023; 621:336-343. [PMID: 37674081 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06513-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 08/02/2023] [Indexed: 09/08/2023]
Abstract
Birds are descended from non-avialan theropod dinosaurs of the Late Jurassic period, but the earliest phase of this evolutionary process remains unclear owing to the exceedingly sparse and spatio-temporally restricted fossil record1-5. Information about the early-diverging species along the avialan line is crucial to understand the evolution of the characteristic bird bauplan, and to reconcile phylogenetic controversies over the origin of birds3,4. Here we describe one of the stratigraphically youngest and geographically southernmost Jurassic avialans, Fujianvenator prodigiosus gen. et sp. nov., from the Tithonian age of China. This specimen exhibits an unusual set of morphological features that are shared with other stem avialans, troodontids and dromaeosaurids, showing the effects of evolutionary mosaicism in deep avialan phylogeny. F. prodigiosus is distinct from all other Mesozoic avialan and non-avialan theropods in having a particularly elongated hindlimb, suggestive of a terrestrial or wading lifestyle-in contrast with other early avialans, which exhibit morphological adaptations to arboreal or aerial environments. During our fieldwork in Zhenghe where F. prodigiosus was found, we discovered a diverse assemblage of vertebrates dominated by aquatic and semi-aquatic species, including teleosts, testudines and choristoderes. Using in situ radioisotopic dating and stratigraphic surveys, we were able to date the fossil-containing horizons in this locality-which we name the Zhenghe Fauna-to 148-150 million years ago. The diversity of the Zhenghe Fauna and its precise chronological framework will provide key insights into terrestrial ecosystems of the Late Jurassic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liming Xu
- Fujian Institute of Geological Survey, Fuzhou, China
| | - Min Wang
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
| | - Runsheng Chen
- Fujian Institute of Geological Survey, Fuzhou, China
| | - Liping Dong
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Min Lin
- Fujian Institute of Geological Survey, Fuzhou, China
| | - Xing Xu
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Centre for Vertebrate Evolutionary Biology, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
- Paleontological Museum of Liaoning, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang, China
| | - Jianrong Tang
- Fujian Institute of Geological Survey, Fuzhou, China
| | - Hailu You
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Guowu Zhou
- Fujian Institute of Geological Survey, Fuzhou, China
| | - Linchang Wang
- Fujian Institute of Geological Survey, Fuzhou, China
| | - Wenxing He
- Fujian Institute of Geological Survey, Fuzhou, China
| | - Yujuan Li
- Fujian Institute of Geological Survey, Fuzhou, China
| | - Chi Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Zhonghe Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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7
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Mainwaring MC, Medina I, Tobalske BW, Hartley IR, Varricchio DJ, Hauber ME. The evolution of nest site use and nest architecture in modern birds and their ancestors. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20220143. [PMID: 37427466 PMCID: PMC10331912 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/11/2023] Open
Abstract
The evolution of nest site use and nest architecture in the non-avian ancestors of birds remains poorly understood because nest structures do not preserve well as fossils. Nevertheless, the evidence suggests that the earliest dinosaurs probably buried eggs below ground and covered them with soil so that heat from the substrate fuelled embryo development, while some later dinosaurs laid partially exposed clutches where adults incubated them and protected them from predators and parasites. The nests of euornithine birds-the precursors to modern birds-were probably partially open and the neornithine birds-or modern birds-were probably the first to build fully exposed nests. The shift towards smaller, open cup nests has been accompanied by shifts in reproductive traits, with female birds having one functioning ovary in contrast to the two ovaries of crocodilians and many non-avian dinosaurs. The evolutionary trend among extant birds and their ancestors has been toward the evolution of greater cognitive abilities to construct in a wider diversity of sites and providing more care for significantly fewer, increasingly altricial, offspring. The highly derived passerines reflect this pattern with many species building small, architecturally complex nests in open sites and investing significant care into altricial young. This article is part of the theme issue 'The evolutionary ecology of nests: a cross-taxon approach'.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Iliana Medina
- School of BioSciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Bret W. Tobalske
- Field Research Station at Fort Missoula, Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, MT 59802, USA
| | - Ian R. Hartley
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ, UK
| | - David J. Varricchio
- Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717, USA
| | - Mark E. Hauber
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
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8
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Zhao T, Pan Y. An evaluation of the effect of hydrofluoric acid (HF) treatment on keratins. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY. PART B, MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2023; 340:377-384. [PMID: 36002950 DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.23173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2021] [Revised: 06/26/2022] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Hydrofluoric acid (HF) is commonly used in geological and paleontological research to extract organic fossils for morphological and chemical studies. However, during HF treatment, organic matter can also be altered, which raises concerns that HF-treated organic matter may not be representative of the original organic matter. To provide reference data for protein studies on fossils, herein, we use Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to investigate the effect of HF (21.3 M) treatment on keratins, with treatment durations ranging from 2 to 48 h. Results show that the FTIR spectra of HF-treated samples are overall similar to that of the untreated sample, while curve fitting shows that HF treatment has led to alteration of the secondary structure in all the HF-treated samples and the effect is time-dependent. The 2- and 4-h treatment mainly reduced the content of the random coils, α-helix, and intermolecular β-sheet. From 8h onwards, the content of random coils greatly increased at the expense of other structures. Our results imply that for protein detection in fossils using FTIR spectroscopy, the negative effect of HF treatment is not substantial, as the bands characteristic of proteins, that is, amide A, amide B, amide I, amide II, and amide III, are still present after the 48-h treatment. If the target is a secondary structure, the effect of HF treatment should be considered. When HF treatment is necessary, limiting the treatment duration to less than 4h may be a choice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tao Zhao
- State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Centre for Research and Education on Biological Evolution and Environment and Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yanhong Pan
- State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Centre for Research and Education on Biological Evolution and Environment and Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
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9
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Clark AD, Hu H, Benson RBJ, O’Connor JK. Reconstructing the dietary habits and trophic positions of the Longipterygidae (Aves: Enantiornithes) using neontological and comparative morphological methods. PeerJ 2023; 11:e15139. [PMID: 37009163 PMCID: PMC10062354 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.15139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2022] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The Longipterygidae are a unique clade among the enantiornithines in that they exhibit elongate rostra (≥60% total skull length) with dentition restricted to the distal tip of the rostrum, and pedal morphologies suited for an arboreal lifestyle (as in other enantiornithines). This suite of features has made interpretations of this group’s diet and ecology difficult to determine due to the lack of analogous taxa that exhibit similar morphologies together. Many extant bird groups exhibit rostral elongation, which is associated with several disparate ecologies and diets (e.g., aerial insectivory, piscivory, terrestrial carnivory). Thus, the presence of rostral elongation in the Longipterygidae only somewhat refines trophic predictions of this clade. Anatomical morphologies do not function singularly but as part of a whole and thus, any dietary or ecological hypothesis regarding this clade must also consider other features such as their unique dentition. The only extant group of dentulous volant tetrapods are the chiropterans, in which tooth morphology and enamel thickness vary depending upon food preference. Drawing inferences from both avian bill proportions and variations in the dental morphology of extinct and extant taxa, we provide quantitative data to support the hypothesis that the Longipterygidae were animalivorous, with greater support for insectivory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander D. Clark
- Cincinnati Museum Center, Geier Collections & Research Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
| | - Han Hu
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Roger BJ Benson
- American Museum of Natural History, New York City, New York, United States
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10
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Miller CV, Pittman M, Wang X, Zheng X, Bright JA. Quantitative investigation of pengornithid enantiornithine diet reveals macrocarnivorous ecology evolved in birds by Early Cretaceous. iScience 2023; 26:106211. [PMID: 36923002 PMCID: PMC10009206 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2022] [Revised: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The diet of Mesozoic birds is poorly known, limiting evolutionary understanding of birds' roles in modern ecosystems. Pengornithidae is one of the best understood families of Mesozoic birds, hypothesized to eat insects or only small amounts of meat. We investigate these hypotheses with four lines of evidence: estimated body mass, claw traditional morphometrics, jaw mechanical advantage, and jaw finite element analysis. Owing to limited data, the diets of Eopengornis and Chiappeavis remain obscure. Pengornis, Parapengornis, and Yuanchuavis show adaptations for vertebrate carnivory. Pengornis also has talons similar to living raptorial birds like caracaras that capture and kill large prey, which represents the earliest known adaptation for macrocarnivory in a bird. This supports the appearance of this ecology ∼35 million years earlier than previously thought. These findings greatly increase the niche breadth known for Early Cretaceous birds, and shift the prevailing view that Mesozoic birds mainly occupied low trophic levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Case Vincent Miller
- Department of Earth Sciences, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Michael Pittman
- School of Life Sciences, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Xiaoli Wang
- Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Linyi University, Linyi, Shandong 276005, China.,Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature, Pingyi, Shandong 273300, China
| | - Xiaoting Zheng
- Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Linyi University, Linyi, Shandong 276005, China.,Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature, Pingyi, Shandong 273300, China
| | - Jen A Bright
- Department of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, UK
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11
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Li Z, Wang M, Stidham TA, Zhou Z. Decoupling the skull and skeleton in a Cretaceous bird with unique appendicular morphologies. Nat Ecol Evol 2023; 7:20-31. [PMID: 36593291 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-022-01921-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2022] [Accepted: 10/03/2022] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
The Cretaceous is a critical time interval that encompasses explosive diversifications of terrestrial vertebrates, particularly the period when the earliest-branching birds, after divergence from their theropod ancestors, evolved the characteristic avian Bauplan that led eventually to their global radiation. This early phylogenetic diversity is overwhelmed by the Ornithothoraces, consisting of the Enantiornithes and Ornithuromorpha, whose members evolved key derived features of crown birds. This disparity consequently circumscribes a large morphological gap between these derived clades and the oldest bird Archaeopteryx. The non-ornithothoracine pygostylians, with an intermediate phylogenetic position, are key to deciphering those evolutionary transformations, but progress in their study has been hampered by the limited diversity of known fossils. Here we report an Early Cetaceous non-ornithothoracine pygostylian, Cratonavis zhui gen. et sp. nov., that exhibits a unique combination of a non-avialan dinosaurian akinetic skull with an avialan post-cranial skeleton, revealing the key role of evolutionary mosaicism in early bird diversification. The unusually elongated scapular and metatarsal one preserved in Cratonavis highlights a breadth of skeletal plasticity, stemming from their distinct developmental modules and selection for possibly raptorial behaviour. Mapped changes in these two elements across theropod phylogeny demonstrate clade-specific evolutionary lability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiheng Li
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Min Wang
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. .,Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
| | - Thomas A Stidham
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Zhonghe Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.,Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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12
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Wang R, Hu D, Zhang M, Wang S, Zhao Q, Sullivan C, Xu X. A new confuciusornithid bird with a secondary epiphyseal ossification reveals phylogenetic changes in confuciusornithid flight mode. Commun Biol 2022; 5:1398. [PMID: 36543908 PMCID: PMC9772404 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-04316-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The confuciusornithids are the earliest known beaked birds, and constitute the only species-rich clade of Early Cretaceous pygostylian birds that existed prior to the cladogenesis of Ornithothoraces. Here, we report a new confuciusornithid species from the Lower Cretaceous of western Liaoning, northeastern China. Compared to other confuciusornithids, this new species and the recently reported Yangavis confucii both show evidence of stronger flight capability, although the wings of the two taxa differ from one another in many respects. Our aerodynamic analyses under phylogeny indicate that varying modes of flight adaptation emerged across the diversity of confuciusornithids, and to a lesser degree over the course of their ontogeny, and specifically suggest that both a trend towards improved flight capability and a change in flight strategy occurred in confuciusornithid evolution. The new confuciusornithid differs most saliently from other Mesozoic birds in having an extra cushion-like bone in the first digit of the wing, a highly unusual feature that may have helped to meet the functional demands of flight at a stage when skeletal growth was still incomplete. The new find strikingly exemplifies the morphological, developmental and functional diversity of the first beaked birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renfei Wang
- College of Earth Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, China
- Shenyang Normal University, Paleontological Museum of Liaoning, Key Laboratory for Evolution of Past Life in Northeast Asia, Liaoning Province, Shenyang, China
| | - Dongyu Hu
- Shenyang Normal University, Paleontological Museum of Liaoning, Key Laboratory for Evolution of Past Life in Northeast Asia, Liaoning Province, Shenyang, China.
| | - Meisheng Zhang
- College of Earth Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, China
| | - Shiying Wang
- Shenyang Normal University, Paleontological Museum of Liaoning, Key Laboratory for Evolution of Past Life in Northeast Asia, Liaoning Province, Shenyang, China
| | - Qi Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Corwin Sullivan
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
- Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum, Wembley, AB, Canada
| | - Xing Xu
- Shenyang Normal University, Paleontological Museum of Liaoning, Key Laboratory for Evolution of Past Life in Northeast Asia, Liaoning Province, Shenyang, China.
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
- Center for Vertebrate Evolutionary Biology, Yunnan University, Kunming, China.
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13
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Wang M, Stidham TA, O'Connor JK, Zhou Z. Insight into the evolutionary assemblage of cranial kinesis from a Cretaceous bird. eLife 2022; 11:e81337. [PMID: 36469022 PMCID: PMC9721616 DOI: 10.7554/elife.81337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/07/2022] Open
Abstract
The independent movements and flexibility of various parts of the skull, called cranial kinesis, are an evolutionary innovation that is found in living vertebrates only in some squamates and crown birds and is considered to be a major factor underpinning much of the enormous phenotypic and ecological diversity of living birds, the most diverse group of extant amniotes. Compared to the postcranium, our understanding of the evolutionary assemblage of the characteristic modern bird skull has been hampered by sparse fossil records of early cranial materials, with competing hypotheses regarding the evolutionary development of cranial kinesis among early members of the avialans. Here, a detailed three-dimensional reconstruction of the skull of the Early Cretaceous enantiornithine Yuanchuavis kompsosoura allows for its in-depth description, including elements that are poorly known among early-diverging avialans but are central to deciphering the mosaic assembly of features required for modern avian cranial kinesis. Our reconstruction of the skull shows evolutionary and functional conservation of the temporal and palatal regions by retaining the ancestral theropod dinosaurian configuration within the skull of this otherwise derived and volant bird. Geometric morphometric analysis of the palatine suggests that loss of the jugal process represents the first step in the structural modifications of this element leading to the kinetic crown bird condition. The mixture of plesiomorphic temporal and palatal structures together with a derived avialan rostrum and postcranial skeleton encapsulated in Yuanchuavis manifests the key role of evolutionary mosaicism and experimentation in early bird diversification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Wang
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
- Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Thomas A Stidham
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
- Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
- University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | | | - Zhonghe Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
- Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
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14
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Zhou Z. The Rising of Paleontology in China: A Century-Long Road. BIOLOGY 2022; 11:1104. [PMID: 35892960 PMCID: PMC9332504 DOI: 10.3390/biology11081104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2022] [Revised: 07/09/2022] [Accepted: 07/14/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
In this paper, the history of paleontology in China from 1920 to 2020 is divided into three major stages, i.e., 1920-1949, 1949-1978, and 1979-2020. As one of the first scientific disciplines to have earned international fame in China, the development of Chinese paleontology benefitted from international collaborations and China's rich resources. Since 1978, China's socio-economic development and its open-door policy to the outside world have also played a key role in the growth of Chinese paleontology. In the 21st century, thanks to constant funding from the government and the rise of the younger generation of paleontologists, Chinese paleontology is expected to make even more contributions to the integration of paleontology with both biological and geological research projects by taking advantage of new technologies and China's rich paleontological resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhonghe Zhou
- Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 142 Xizhimenwai Dajie, Beijing 100044, China
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15
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Ma X, Wang G, Wang M. Impact of Chinese palaeontology on evolutionary research. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210029. [PMID: 35124998 PMCID: PMC8819365 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoya Ma
- Yunnan Key Laboratory for Palaeobiology, Institute of Palaeontology, Yunnan University, Chenggong Campus, Kunming 650504, People's Republic of China.,Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK
| | - Guangxu Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, People's Republic of China
| | - Min Wang
- Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, People's Republic of China
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16
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Pan Y, Li Z, Wang M, Zhao T, Wang X, Zheng X. Unambiguous evidence of brilliant iridescent feather color from hollow melanosomes in an Early Cretaceous bird. Natl Sci Rev 2021; 9:nwab227. [PMID: 35145706 PMCID: PMC8824705 DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwab227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Revised: 12/22/2021] [Accepted: 12/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Yanhong Pan
- State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Centre for Research and Education on Biological Evolution and Environment and Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, Nanjing University, China
| | - Zhiheng Li
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, China
| | - Min Wang
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, China
| | - Tao Zhao
- State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Centre for Research and Education on Biological Evolution and Environment and Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, Nanjing University, China
| | - Xiaoli Wang
- Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Linyi University, China
- Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature, China
| | - Xiaoting Zheng
- Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Linyi University, China
- Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature, China
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