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Leslie AB, Benson RBJ. Neontological and paleontological congruence in the evolution of Podocarpaceae (coniferales) reproductive morphology. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.1058746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
IntroductionPodocarpaceae are a diverse, primarily tropical conifer family that commonly produce large leaves and highly reduced, fleshy seed cones bearing large seeds. These features may result from relatively recent adaptation to closed-canopy angiosperm forests and bird-mediated seed dispersal, although determining precisely when shifts in leaf and seed cone morphology occurred is difficult due to a sparse fossil record and relatively few surviving deep lineages.MethodsWe compare the fossil record of Podocarpaceae with results from ancestral state reconstruction methods and correlated character models using neontological data and a previously published molecular time-tree.ResultsAncestral state reconstructions suggest that small leaves, small seeds, and multi-seeded cones are ancestral in crown Podocarpaceae, with reduced cones bearing few seeds appearing in the Early Cretaceous and the correlated evolution of large leaves and large seeds occurring from the Late Cretaceous onwards. The exact timing of these shifts based on neontological data alone are poorly constrained, however, and estimates of leaf and seed size are imprecise.DiscussionThe fossil record is largely congruent with results based on the molecular time-tree, but provide important constraints on the range of leaf and seed sizes that were present in Cretaceous Podocarpaceae and the time by which changes in cone morphology and seed size likely occurred. We suggest in particular that reduced seed cones appeared in the Early Cretaceous and are linked to the contemporaneous diversification of small bodied avialans (birds), with shifts to larger seed sizes occurring after the Cretaceous in association with the spread of closed-canopy angiosperm forests.
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Hu H, Wang Y, McDonald PG, Wroe S, O'Connor JK, Bjarnason A, Bevitt JJ, Yin X, Zheng X, Zhou Z, Benson RBJ. Earliest evidence for fruit consumption and potential seed dispersal by birds. eLife 2022; 11:74751. [PMID: 35971758 PMCID: PMC9381037 DOI: 10.7554/elife.74751] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The Early Cretaceous diversification of birds was a major event in the history of terrestrial ecosystems, occurring during the earliest phase of the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution, long before the origin of the bird crown-group. Frugivorous birds play an important role in seed dispersal today. However, evidence of fruit consumption in early birds from outside the crown-group has been lacking. Jeholornis is one of the earliest-diverging birds, only slightly more crownward than Archaeopteryx, but its cranial anatomy has been poorly understood, limiting trophic information which may be gleaned from the skull. Originally hypothesised to be granivorous based on seeds preserved as gut contents, this interpretation has become controversial. We conducted high-resolution synchrotron tomography on an exquisitely preserved new skull of Jeholornis, revealing remarkable cranial plesiomorphies combined with a specialised rostrum. We use this to provide a near-complete cranial reconstruction of Jeholornis, and exclude the possibility that Jeholornis was granivorous, based on morphometric analyses of the mandible (3D) and cranium (2D), and comparisons with the 3D alimentary contents of extant birds. We show that Jeholornis provides the earliest evidence for fruit consumption in birds, and indicates that birds may have been recruited for seed dispersal during the earliest stages of the avian radiation. As mobile seed dispersers, early frugivorous birds could have expanded the scope for biotic dispersal in plants, and might therefore explain, at least in part, the subsequent evolutionary expansion of fruits, indicating a potential role of bird–plant interactions in the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution. Birds and plants have a close relationship that has developed over millions of years. Birds became diverse and abundant around 135 million years ago. Shortly after, plants started developing new and different kinds of fruits. Today, fruit-eating birds help plants to reproduce by spreading seeds in their droppings. This suggests that birds and plants have coevolved, changing together over time. But it is not clear exactly how their relationship started. One species that might hold the answers is an early bird species known as Jeholornis. It lived in China in the Early Cretaceous, around 120 million years ago. Palaeontologists have discovered preserved seeds inside its fossilised remains. The question is, how did they get there? Some birds eat seeds directly, cracking them open or grinding them up in the stomach to extract the nutrients inside. Other birds swallow seeds when they are eating fruit. If Jeholornis belonged to this second group, it could represent one of the early steps in plant-bird coevolution. Hu et al. scanned and reconstructed a preserved Jeholornis skull and compared it to the skulls, especially the mandibles, of modern birds, including species that grind seeds, species that crack seeds and species that eat fruits, leaving the seeds whole. The analyses ruled out seed cracking. But it could not distinguish between seed grinding and fruit eating. Hu et al. therefore compared the seed remains found inside Jeholornis fossils to seeds eaten by modern birds. The fossilised seeds were intact and showed no evidence of grinding. This suggests that Jeholornis ate whole fruits for at least part of the year. At around the time Jeholornis was alive, the world was entering a phase called the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution, which was characterized by an explosion of new species and an expansion of both flowering plants and birds. This finding opens new avenues for scientists to explore how plant and birds might have evolved together. Similar analyses could unlock new information about how other species interacted with their environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Han Hu
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford
- Zoology Division, School of Environmental and Rural Sciences, University of New England
| | - Yan Wang
- Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Linyi University
| | - Paul G McDonald
- Zoology Division, School of Environmental and Rural Sciences, University of New England
| | - Stephen Wroe
- Zoology Division, School of Environmental and Rural Sciences, University of New England
| | - Jingmai K O'Connor
- Field Museum of Natural History
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment
| | | | - Joseph J Bevitt
- Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation
| | | | - Xiaoting Zheng
- Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Linyi University
- Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature
| | - Zhonghe Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment
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3
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Ramírez GA, Keshri J, Vahrson I, Garber AI, Berrang ME, Cox NA, González-Cerón F, Aggrey SE, Oakley BB. Cecal Microbial Hydrogen Cycling Potential Is Linked to Feed Efficiency Phenotypes in Chickens. Front Vet Sci 2022; 9:904698. [PMID: 35799838 PMCID: PMC9255636 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.904698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
In chickens, early life exposure to environmental microbes has long-lasting impacts on gastrointestinal (GI) microbiome development and host health and growth, via mechanisms that remain uncharacterized. In this study, we demonstrated that administrating a fecal microbiome transplant (FMT) from adults to day-of-hatch chicks results in significantly higher body mass of birds and decreased residual feed intake (RFI), implying enhanced feed efficiency, at 6 weeks of age. To assess the potential mechanisms through which FMT affects adult bird phenotype, we combined 16 S rRNA gene amplification, metagenomic, and comparative genomic approaches to survey the composition and predicted activities of the resident microbiome of various GI tract segments. Early life FMT exposure had a long-lasting significant effect on the microbial community composition and function of the ceca but not on other GI segments. Within the ceca of 6-week-old FMT birds, hydrogenotrophic microbial lineages and genes were most differentially enriched. The results suggest that thermodynamic regulation in the cecum, in this case via hydrogenotrophic methanogenic and sulfur-cycling lineages, potentially serving as hydrogen sinks, may enhance fermentative efficiency and dietary energy harvest capacity. Our study provides a specific mechanism of action through which early-life microbiome transplants modulate market-relevant phenotypes in poultry and, thereby, may represent a significant advance toward microbiome-focused sustainable agriculture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gustavo Antonio Ramírez
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, United States
- Leon H. Charney School of Marine Sciences, Haifa University, Haifa, Israel
| | - Jitendra Keshri
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, United States
| | - Isabella Vahrson
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, United States
| | - Arkadiy I. Garber
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States
| | - Mark E. Berrang
- Poultry Microbiological Safety and Processing Research Unit, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Nelson A. Cox
- Poultry Microbiological Safety and Processing Research Unit, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Fernando González-Cerón
- Departamento de Zootecnia, Chapingo Autonomous University, Estado de Mexico, Mexico
- NutriGenomics Laboratory, Department of Poultry Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Samuel E. Aggrey
- NutriGenomics Laboratory, Department of Poultry Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Brian B. Oakley
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, United States
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Li Z, Wang M, Stidham TA, Zhou Z, Clarke J. Novel evolution of a hyper-elongated tongue in a Cretaceous enantiornithine from China and the evolution of the hyolingual apparatus and feeding in birds. J Anat 2022; 240:627-638. [PMID: 34854094 PMCID: PMC8930807 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13588] [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: 07/23/2021] [Revised: 10/28/2021] [Accepted: 10/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The globally distributed extinct clade Enantiornithes comprises the most diverse early radiation of birds in the Mesozoic with species exhibiting a wide range of body sizes, morphologies, and ecologies. The fossil of a new enantiornithine bird, Brevirostruavis macrohyoideus gen. et sp. nov., from the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation in Liaoning Province, northeastern China, preserves a few important skeletal features previously unknown among early stem and extant birds, including an extremely elongate bony hyoid element (only slightly shorter than the skull), combined with a short cranial rostrum. The long hyoid provides direct evidence for the evolution of specialized feeding in this extinct species, and appears similar to the highly mobile tongue that is mobilized by the paired epibranchials present in living hummingbirds, honeyeaters, and woodpeckers. The likely linkage between food acquisition and tongue protrusion might have been a key factor in the independent evolution of particularly elongate hyobranchials in early birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiheng Li
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of SciencesInstitute of Vertebrate Paleontology and PaleoanthropologyChinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
- CAS Center for Excellence in Life and PaleoenvironmentBeijingChina
| | - Min Wang
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of SciencesInstitute of Vertebrate Paleontology and PaleoanthropologyChinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
- CAS Center for Excellence in Life and PaleoenvironmentBeijingChina
| | - Thomas A. Stidham
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of SciencesInstitute of Vertebrate Paleontology and PaleoanthropologyChinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
- CAS Center for Excellence in Life and PaleoenvironmentBeijingChina
- University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Zhonghe Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of SciencesInstitute of Vertebrate Paleontology and PaleoanthropologyChinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
- CAS Center for Excellence in Life and PaleoenvironmentBeijingChina
- University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Julia Clarke
- Department of Geological SciencesUniversity of Texas at AustinAustinTexasUSA
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5
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Benito J, Chen A, Wilson LE, Bhullar BAS, Burnham D, Field DJ. Forty new specimens of Ichthyornis provide unprecedented insight into the postcranial morphology of crownward stem group birds. PeerJ 2022; 10:e13919. [PMID: 36545383 PMCID: PMC9762251 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.13919] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2021] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Ichthyornis has long been recognized as a pivotally important fossil taxon for understanding the latest stages of the dinosaur-bird transition, but little significant new postcranial material has been brought to light since initial descriptions of partial skeletons in the 19th Century. Here, we present new information on the postcranial morphology of Ichthyornis from 40 previously undescribed specimens, providing the most complete morphological assessment of the postcranial skeleton of Ichthyornis to date. The new material includes four partially complete skeletons and numerous well-preserved isolated elements, enabling new anatomical observations such as muscle attachments previously undescribed for Mesozoic euornitheans. Among the elements that were previously unknown or poorly represented for Ichthyornis, the new specimens include an almost-complete axial series, a hypocleideum-bearing furcula, radial carpal bones, fibulae, a complete tarsometatarsus bearing a rudimentary hypotarsus, and one of the first-known nearly complete three-dimensional sterna from a Mesozoic avialan. Several pedal phalanges are preserved, revealing a remarkably enlarged pes presumably related to foot-propelled swimming. Although diagnosable as Ichthyornis, the new specimens exhibit a substantial degree of morphological variation, some of which may relate to ontogenetic changes. Phylogenetic analyses incorporating our new data and employing alternative morphological datasets recover Ichthyornis stemward of Hesperornithes and Iaceornis, in line with some recent hypotheses regarding the topology of the crownward-most portion of the avian stem group, and we establish phylogenetically-defined clade names for relevant avialan subclades to help facilitate consistent discourse in future work. The new information provided by these specimens improves our understanding of morphological evolution among the crownward-most non-neornithine avialans immediately preceding the origin of crown group birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Benito
- Department of Biology & Biochemistry, Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom.,Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
| | - Albert Chen
- Department of Biology & Biochemistry, Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom.,Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
| | - Laura E Wilson
- Fort Hays State University, Sternberg Museum of Natural History and Department of Geosciences, Hays, Kansas, United States
| | - Bhart-Anjan S Bhullar
- Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, New Haven, Conneticut, United States.,Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Yale University, New Haven, Conneticut, United States
| | - David Burnham
- University of Kansas, Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum, Lawrence, Kansas, United States
| | - Daniel J Field
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom.,University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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Miller CV, Pittman M. The diet of early birds based on modern and fossil evidence and a new framework for its reconstruction. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2021; 96:2058-2112. [PMID: 34240530 PMCID: PMC8519158 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2020] [Revised: 05/07/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Birds are some of the most diverse organisms on Earth, with species inhabiting a wide variety of niches across every major biome. As such, birds are vital to our understanding of modern ecosystems. Unfortunately, our understanding of the evolutionary history of modern ecosystems is hampered by knowledge gaps in the origin of modern bird diversity and ecosystem ecology. A crucial part of addressing these shortcomings is improving our understanding of the earliest birds, the non-avian avialans (i.e. non-crown birds), particularly of their diet. The diet of non-avian avialans has been a matter of debate, in large part because of the ambiguous qualitative approaches that have been used to reconstruct it. Here we review methods for determining diet in modern and fossil avians (i.e. crown birds) as well as non-avian theropods, and comment on their usefulness when applied to non-avian avialans. We use this to propose a set of comparable, quantitative approaches to ascertain fossil bird diet and on this basis provide a consensus of what we currently know about fossil bird diet. While no single approach can precisely predict diet in birds, each can exclude some diets and narrow the dietary possibilities. We recommend combining (i) dental microwear, (ii) landmark-based muscular reconstruction, (iii) stable isotope geochemistry, (iv) body mass estimations, (v) traditional and/or geometric morphometric analysis, (vi) lever modelling, and (vii) finite element analysis to reconstruct fossil bird diet accurately. Our review provides specific methodologies to implement each approach and discusses complications future researchers should keep in mind. We note that current forms of assessment of dental mesowear, skull traditional morphometrics, geometric morphometrics, and certain stable isotope systems have yet to be proven effective at discerning fossil bird diet. On this basis we report the current state of knowledge of non-avian avialan diet which remains very incomplete. The ancestral dietary condition in non-avian avialans remains unclear due to scarce data and contradictory evidence in Archaeopteryx. Among early non-avian pygostylians, Confuciusornis has finite element analysis and mechanical advantage evidence pointing to herbivory, whilst Sapeornis only has mechanical advantage evidence indicating granivory, agreeing with fossilised ingested material known for this taxon. The enantiornithine ornithothoracine Shenqiornis has mechanical advantage and pedal morphometric evidence pointing to carnivory. In the hongshanornithid ornithuromorph Hongshanornis only mechanical advantage evidence indicates granivory, but this agrees with evidence of gastrolith ingestion in this taxon. Mechanical advantage and ingested fish support carnivory in the songlingornithid ornithuromorph Yanornis. Due to the sparsity of robust dietary assignments, no clear trends in non-avian avialan dietary evolution have yet emerged. Dietary diversity seems to increase through time, but this is a preservational bias associated with a predominance of data from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Lagerstätte. With this new framework and our synthesis of the current knowledge of non-avian avialan diet, we expect dietary knowledge and evolutionary trends to become much clearer in the coming years, especially as fossils from other locations and climates are found. This will allow for a deeper and more robust understanding of the role birds played in Mesozoic ecosystems and how this developed into their pivotal role in modern ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Case Vincent Miller
- Vertebrate Palaeontology Laboratory, Research Division for Earth and Planetary ScienceThe University of Hong KongPokfulamHong Kong SARChina
| | - Michael Pittman
- Vertebrate Palaeontology Laboratory, Research Division for Earth and Planetary ScienceThe University of Hong KongPokfulamHong Kong SARChina
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7
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Monfroy QT, Kundrát M, O’Connor JK, Hai‐Lu Y, Marone F, Stampanoni M, Šmajda B. Synchrotron microtomography‐based osteohistology of
Gansus yumenensis
: new data on the evolution of uninterrupted bone deposition in basal birds. ACTA ZOOL-STOCKHOLM 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/azo.12402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Quentin T. Monfroy
- Department of Animal Physiology Institute of Biology and Ecology Faculty of Sciences Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice Košice Slovakia
- PaleoBioImaging Lab, Evolutionary Biodiversity Research Group Centre for Interdisciplinary Biosciences, Technology and Innovation Park Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice Košice Slovakia
| | - Martin Kundrát
- PaleoBioImaging Lab, Evolutionary Biodiversity Research Group Centre for Interdisciplinary Biosciences, Technology and Innovation Park Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice Košice Slovakia
| | | | - You Hai‐Lu
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment Beijing China
- College of Earth and Planetary Sciences University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing China
| | - Federica Marone
- Swiss Light Source Paul Scherrer Institut Villigen Switzerland
| | - Marco Stampanoni
- Swiss Light Source Paul Scherrer Institut Villigen Switzerland
- Institute for Biomedical Engineering ETH Zürich Zurich Switzerland
| | - Beňadik Šmajda
- Department of Animal Physiology Institute of Biology and Ecology Faculty of Sciences Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice Košice Slovakia
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8
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Brocklehurst N, Field DJ. Macroevolutionary dynamics of dentition in Mesozoic birds reveal no long-term selection towards tooth loss. iScience 2021; 24:102243. [PMID: 33763634 PMCID: PMC7973866 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2020] [Revised: 12/16/2020] [Accepted: 02/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Several potential drivers of avian tooth loss have been proposed, although consensus remains elusive as fully toothless jaws arose independently numerous times among Mesozoic avialans and dinosaurs more broadly. The origin of crown bird edentulism has been discussed in terms of a broad-scale selective pressure or trend toward toothlessness, although this has never been quantitatively tested. Here, we find no evidence for models whereby iterative acquisitions of toothlessness among Mesozoic Avialae were driven by an overarching selective trend. Instead, our results support modularity among jaw regions underlying heterogeneous tooth loss patterns and indicate a substantially later transition to complete crown bird edentulism than previously hypothesized (∼90 mya). We show that patterns of avialan tooth loss adhere to Dollo's law and suggest that the exclusive survival of toothless birds to the present represents lineage-specific selective pressures, irreversibility of tooth loss, and the filter of the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K–Pg) mass extinction. The evolutionary processes underlying tooth loss in Mesozoic birds are debated Analyses reveal no long-term selective pressure or trend toward toothlessness Tooth loss was likely a result of local selective pressures on individual lineages The transition to crown bird toothlessness occurred later than previously hypothesized
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Affiliation(s)
- Neil Brocklehurst
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, UK
| | - Daniel J Field
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK
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9
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Li Z, Wang CC, Wang M, Chiang CC, Wang Y, Zheng X, Huang EW, Hsiao K, Zhou Z. Ultramicrostructural reductions in teeth: implications for dietary transition from non-avian dinosaurs to birds. BMC Evol Biol 2020; 20:46. [PMID: 32316913 PMCID: PMC7171806 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-020-01611-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2019] [Accepted: 04/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Tooth morphology within theropod dinosaurs has been extensively investigated and shows high disparity throughout the Cretaceous. Changes or diversification in feeding ecology, i.e., adoption of an herbivorous diet (e.g., granivorous), is proposed as a major driver of tooth evolution in Paraves (e.g., Microraptor, troodontids and avialans). Here, we studied the microscopic features of paravian non-avian theropod and avialan teeth using high-spatial-resolution synchrotron transmission X-ray microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Results We show that avialan teeth are characterized by the presence of simple enamel structures and a lack of porous mantle dentin between the enamel and orthodentin. Reduced internal structures of teeth took place independently in Early Cretaceous birds and a Microraptor specimen, implying that shifts in diet in avialans from that of closely related dinosaurs may correlate with a shift in feeding ecology during the transition from non-avian dinosaurs to birds. Conclusion Different lines of evidence all suggest a large reduction in biting force affecting the evolution of teeth in the dinosaur-bird transition. Changes in teeth microstructure and associated dietary shift may have contributed to the early evolutionary success of stemward birds in the shadow of other non-avian theropods.
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Affiliation(s)
- 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, 142 Xizhimenwai Street, Beijing, 100044, China. .,CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, 100044, China.
| | - Chun-Chieh Wang
- National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsinchu, 30076, Taiwan.
| | - 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, 142 Xizhimenwai Street, Beijing, 100044, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, 100044, China
| | | | - Yan Wang
- Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Linyi University, Linyi, 276000, Shandong, China
| | - Xiaoting Zheng
- Tianyu Natural History Museum of Shandong, Pingyi, 273300, Shandong, China
| | - E-Wen Huang
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, 30010, Taiwan
| | - Kiko Hsiao
- Mr. Fossil Institute, New Taipei City, 23673, Taiwan
| | - Zhonghe Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 142 Xizhimenwai Street, Beijing, 100044, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, 100044, China
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10
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Bailleul AM, Li Z, O'Connor J, Zhou Z. Origin of the avian predentary and evidence of a unique form of cranial kinesis in Cretaceous ornithuromorphs. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:24696-24706. [PMID: 31740590 PMCID: PMC6900542 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1911820116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The avian predentary is a small skeletal structure located rostral to the paired dentaries found only in Mesozoic ornithuromorphs. The evolution and function of this enigmatic element is unknown. Skeletal tissues forming the predentary and the lower jaws in the basal ornithuromorph Yanornis martini are identified using computed-tomography, scanning electron microscopy, and histology. On the basis of these data, we propose hypotheses for the development, structure, and function of this element. The predentary is composed of trabecular bone. The convex caudal surface articulates with rostromedial concavities on the dentaries. These articular surfaces are covered by cartilage, which on the dentaries is divided into 3 discrete patches: 1 rostral articular cartilage and 2 symphyseal cartilages. The mechanobiology of avian cartilage suggests both compression and kinesis were present at the predentary-dentary joint, therefore suggesting a yet unknown form of avian cranial kinesis. Ontogenetic processes of skeletal formation occurring within extant taxa do not suggest the predentary originates within the dentaries, nor Meckel's cartilage. We hypothesize that the predentary is a biomechanically induced sesamoid that arose within the soft connective tissues located rostral to the dentaries. The mandibular canal hosting the alveolar nerve suggests that the dentary teeth and predentary of Yanornis were proprioceptive. This whole system may have increased foraging efficiency. The Mesozoic avian predentary apparently coevolved with an edentulous portion of the premaxilla, representing a unique kinetic morphotype that combined teeth with a small functional beak and persisted successfully for ∼60 million years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alida M Bailleul
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100044 Beijing, China;
- Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100044 Beijing, China
| | - Zhiheng Li
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100044 Beijing, China
- Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100044 Beijing, China
| | - Jingmai O'Connor
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100044 Beijing, China
- Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100044 Beijing, China
| | - Zhonghe Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100044 Beijing, China;
- Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100044 Beijing, China
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11
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On the Preservation of the Beak in Confuciusornis (Aves: Pygostylia). DIVERSITY-BASEL 2019. [DOI: 10.3390/d11110212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The Confuciusornithiformes represent the most stem-ward avian occurrence of an edentulous rostrum. Although a keratinous beak is widely considered to have covered the rostrum in confuciusornithiforms, this feature is almost never preserved, having been previously reported only in the holotype of Confuciusornis dui and the holotype of Eoconfuciusornis zhengi. This strongly contrasts with the widespread preservation of the keratinous sheaths that cover the manual and pedal ungual phalanges. Here, we report on a third occurrence of a preserved rhamphotheca in a specimen of Confuciusornis sanctus. We illuminated the preserved traces using laser-stimulated fluorescence. Similarly to E. zhengi, the rhamphotheca has been preserved only as a two-dimensional trace, whereas ungual sheaths are preserved in three dimensions. In contrast to the traces preserved in C. dui, the rhamphotheca in the discussed specimen of C. sanctus is straight rather than upturned. This hints towards hidden morphological diversity within the thousands of Confuciusornis specimens, in which species may be further differentiated by soft tissue features or behaviors, much like many living birds, that cannot be detected in fossils, even with exceptional preservation.
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Hartman S, Mortimer M, Wahl WR, Lomax DR, Lippincott J, Lovelace DM. A new paravian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of North America supports a late acquisition of avian flight. PeerJ 2019; 7:e7247. [PMID: 31333906 PMCID: PMC6626525 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.7247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2018] [Accepted: 06/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The last two decades have seen a remarkable increase in the known diversity of basal avialans and their paravian relatives. The lack of resolution in the relationships of these groups combined with attributing the behavior of specialized taxa to the base of Paraves has clouded interpretations of the origin of avialan flight. Here, we describe Hesperornithoides miessleri gen. et sp. nov., a new paravian theropod from the Morrison Formation (Late Jurassic) of Wyoming, USA, represented by a single adult or subadult specimen comprising a partial, well-preserved skull and postcranial skeleton. Limb proportions firmly establish Hesperornithoides as occupying a terrestrial, non-volant lifestyle. Our phylogenetic analysis emphasizes extensive taxonomic sampling and robust character construction, recovering the new taxon most parsimoniously as a troodontid close to Daliansaurus, Xixiasaurus, and Sinusonasus. Multiple alternative paravian topologies have similar degrees of support, but proposals of basal paravian archaeopterygids, avialan microraptorians, and Rahonavis being closer to Pygostylia than archaeopterygids or unenlagiines are strongly rejected. All parsimonious results support the hypothesis that each early paravian clade was plesiomorphically flightless, raising the possibility that avian flight originated as late as the Late Jurassic or Early Cretaceous.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott Hartman
- Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | | | | | - Dean R. Lomax
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | | | - David M. Lovelace
- University of Wisconsin Geology Museum, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
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Ksepka DT, Grande L, Mayr G. Oldest Finch-Beaked Birds Reveal Parallel Ecological Radiations in the Earliest Evolution of Passerines. Curr Biol 2019; 29:657-663.e1. [PMID: 30744971 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.12.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2018] [Revised: 11/27/2018] [Accepted: 12/20/2018] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Beak shape plays a key role in avian radiations and is one of the most intensely studied aspects of avian evolution and ecology [1-4]. Perhaps no other group is more closely associated with the study of beak shape than Passeriformes (passerines or perching birds), the most species-rich ordinal clade of modern birds. However, despite their extraordinary present-day diversity, our understanding of early passerine evolution has been hindered by their sparse fossil record [5, 6]. Here, we describe two new species of early Eocene stem passerines from the Green River Formation of the United States and the Messel Formation of Germany. These species are the oldest fossil birds to exhibit a finch-like beak and provide the earliest evidence for a diet focused on small, hard seeds in crown birds. Given that granivory is a key adaptation that allows passerines to exploit open temperate environments, it is notable that both species occurred in subtropical environments [7, 8]. Phylogenetic analyses place both species within the Psittacopedidae, an extinct Eocene clade of zygodactyl stem passeriforms that also includes the slender-beaked nectarivorous Pumiliornis, the short-beaked Psittacopes, and the thrush-beaked Morsoravis. Our results reveal that stem passerines attained a diversity of beak shapes paralleling many of the morphotypes present in extant passerine finches, thrushes, and sunbirds, more than 35 million years before these morphotypes arose in the crown group. Extinction of these ecologically diverse fossil taxa may be linked to more sophisticated nest construction in anisodactyl crown passerines versus cavity-nesting in Eocene zygodactyl stem passerines [9].
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel T Ksepka
- Bruce Museum, Greenwich, CT 06830, USA; Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL 60605, USA; American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA; Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA.
| | - Lance Grande
- Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL 60605, USA; American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA; University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Gerald Mayr
- Senckenberg Research Institute, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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Zheng X, O'Connor JK, Wang X, Wang Y, Zhou Z. Reinterpretation of a previously described Jehol bird clarifies early trophic evolution in the Ornithuromorpha. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 285:rspb.2017.2494. [PMID: 29386367 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.2494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2017] [Accepted: 01/10/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
STM35-3 from the Yixian Formation is the only Early Cretaceous ornithuromorph preserving direct evidence of granivory. The crop contains numerous seeds and the preservation of gastroliths presumably within the ventriculus indicates this diet was paired with the presence of a gastric mill as in living granivorous birds. STM35-3 was originally referred to Hongshanornis longicresta, member of a diverse clade of small, basal ornithuromorphs with elongate hindlimbs known as the Hongshanornithidae. Hindlimb proportions suggest that hongshanornithids were wading birds, an ecological inference somewhat in conflict with direct evidence suggesting Hongshanornis fed on seeds. However, close inspection of STM35-3 reveals that the specimen represents a new species not closely related to hongshanornithids, distinguished by large forelimbs that exceed the length of the hindlimbs, robust and narrow coracoids, and a delicate edentulous rostrum. By contrast, all hongshanornithids have hindlimbs that far exceed the length of the forelimbs, coracoids with wide sternal margins, and small teeth throughout the upper and lower jaws. Reinterpretation of this new taxon, Eogranivora edentulata gen. et sp. nov, helps to clarify trophic driven patterns of tooth loss within the Ornithuromorpha. Apparent loss of the hallux may represent the first such occurrence in a Mesozoic bird and suggests a highly terrestrial lifestyle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoting Zheng
- Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Linyi University, Linyi, Shandong 276000, People's Republic of China.,Tianyu Natural History Museum of Shandong, Pingyi, Shandong 273300, People's Republic of China
| | - Jingmai K O'Connor
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiaoli Wang
- Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Linyi University, Linyi, Shandong 276000, People's Republic of China.,Tianyu Natural History Museum of Shandong, Pingyi, Shandong 273300, People's Republic of China
| | - Yan Wang
- Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Linyi University, Linyi, Shandong 276000, People's Republic of China.,Tianyu Natural History Museum of Shandong, Pingyi, Shandong 273300, People's Republic of China
| | - Zhonghe Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, People's Republic of China
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Field DJ, Hanson M, Burnham D, Wilson LE, Super K, Ehret D, Ebersole JA, Bhullar BAS. Complete Ichthyornis skull illuminates mosaic assembly of the avian head. Nature 2018; 557:96-100. [DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0053-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2017] [Accepted: 03/21/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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