Evolving Perceptions on the Antiquity of the Modern Avian Tree

Brown, Joseph W.; Tuinen, Marcel van

doi:10.1002/9781119990475.ch12

Cited by 25 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 110 publications

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“…13 and absent in non-neoavian taxa (for example, chicken), strongly suggesting that this HBV endogenization occurred in the common ancestor of Neoaves. As both the most conservative 14 and the most comprehensive 15 molecular analyses date the existence of the neoavian ancestor to 474 MYA 14 or 82-94 MYA 15 , the neoavian-wide presence (Fig. 2) of eZHBV_C provides direct evidence for the existence and endogenization of Hepadnaviridae during the Upper Cretaceous.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The genome of a Mesozoic paleovirus reveals the evolution of hepatitis B viruses

et al. 2013

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Paleovirology involves the identification of ancient endogenous viral elements within eukaryotic genomes. The evolutionary origins of the reverse-transcribing hepatitis B viruses, however, remain elusive, due to the small number of endogenized sequences present in host genomes. Here we report a comprehensively dated genomic record of hepatitis B virus endogenizations that spans bird evolution from 482 to o12.1 million years ago. The oldest virus relic extends over a 99% complete hepatitis B virus genome sequence and constitutes the first discovery of a Mesozoic paleovirus genome. We show that Hepadnaviridae are 463 million years older than previously known and provide direct evidence for coexistence of hepatitis B viruses and birds during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras. Finally, phylogenetic analyses and distribution of hepatitis B virus relics suggest that birds potentially are the ancestral hosts of Hepadnaviridae and mammalian hepatitis B viruses probably emerged after a bird-mammal host switch. Our study reveals previously undiscovered and multi-faceted insights into prehistoric hepatitis B virus evolution and provides valuable resources for future studies, such as in-vitro resurrection of Mesozoic hepadnaviruses.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The genome of a Mesozoic paleovirus reveals the evolution of hepatitis B viruses

et al. 2013

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“…While the timing of avian taxonomic diversification remains controversial [6], understanding the history of ecological diversification of birds is an important, understudied parallel line of inquiry. Knowing which niches birds occupied across the Cretaceous is critical for determining how disparate potential crown avians may have been by the K-Pg boundary, and whether crown clades lineages experienced a rapid radiation into new niches following K-Pg extinction or not.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The debate surrounding bird origins has mostly centred on the controversial timing of crown divergences [2,[4][5][6][7]. Understanding when birds radiated ecologically requires understanding their fossil record of disparity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low ecological disparity in Early Cretaceous birds

Mitchell

Makovicky

2014

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Ecological divergence is thought to be coupled with evolutionary radiations, yet the strength of this coupling is unclear. When birds diversified ecologically has received much less attention than their hotly debated crown divergence time. Here, we quantify how accurately skeletal morphology can predict ecology in living and extinct birds, and show that the earliest known assemblage of birds (¼ pygostylians) from the Jehol Biota (% 125 Ma) was substantially impoverished ecologically. The Jehol avifauna has few representatives of highly preservable ecomorphs (e.g. aquatic forms) and a notable lack of ecomorphological overlap with the pterosaur assemblage (e.g. no large or aerially foraging pygostylians). Comparisons of the Jehol functional diversity with modern and subfossil avian assemblages show that taphonomic bias alone cannot explain the ecomorphological impoverishment. However, evolutionary simulations suggest that the constrained ecological diversity of the Early Cretaceous pygostylians is consistent with what is expected from a relatively young radiation. Regardless of the proximate biological explanation, the anomalously low functional diversity of the Jehol birds is evidence both for ecological vacancies in Cretaceous ecosystems, which were subsequently filled by the radiation of crown Aves, and for discordance between taxonomic richness and ecological diversity in the best-known Mesozoic ecosystem.

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“…Lowe 1935). During the time of Huxley, workers emphasized character similarities, leading to incorrect classifications such as that considering penguins separate from other birds that were considered at that time to be allied with dinosaurs (Brown and van Tuinen 2011).…”

Section: Anatomical and Evolutionary Misinterpretationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rhetoric vs. reality: A commentary on “Bird Origins Anew” by A. Feduccia

Smith

Chiappe

Clarke

et al. 2015

The Auk

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Birds are maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs. The evidence supporting the systematic position of Avialae as a derived clade within Dinosauria is voluminous and derived from multiple independent lines of evidence. In contrast, a paucity of selectively chosen data weakly support, at best, alternative proposals regarding the origin of birds and feathers. Opponents of the theory that birds are dinosaurs have frequently based their criticisms on unorthodox interpretations of paleontological data and misrepresentation of phylogenetic systematic methods. Moreover, arguments against the nested position of Avialae in Dinosauria have often conflated the logically distinct questions of avian origins, the evolution of flight, and the phylogenetic distribution of feathers. Motivated by a Perspectives article with numerous factual inaccuracies that recently appeared in The Auk, we provide a review of the full complement of facts pertaining to the avian origins debate and address the misplaced criticisms raised in that opinion paper. Keywords: evolution of flight, evolution of feathers, evolution of birds, Avialae, maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs, phylogenetic systematics Retórica vs. Realidad: Un comentario sobre ''Bird Origins Anew'' por A. Feduccia, Auk 130:1-12 RESUMEN Las aves son dinosaurios terópodos maniraptores. La evidencia que sustenta la posición sistemática de Avialae como un clado derivado dentro de Dinosauria es voluminosa y se deriva de múltiples líneas independientes de evidencia. En contraste, sólo escasos datos elegidos selectivamente sustentan débilmente propuestas alternativas sobre el origen de las aves y las plumas. Los opositores de la teoría de que las aves son dinosaurios frecuentemente han basado sus críticas en interpretaciones no ortodoxas de los datos paleontológicos y en la tergiversación de los métodos de la sistemática filogenética. Además, los argumentos en contra de la posición anidada de Avialae dentro de Dinosauria han confundido la distinción lógica de las preguntas sobre los orígenes de las aves, la evolución del vuelo y la distribución filogenética de las plumas. Motivados por un artículo de Perspectivas que apareció recientemente en The Auk con numerosas imprecisiones fácticas, presentamos una revisión del conjunto completo de hechos relacionados con el debate sobre el origen de la aves y abordamos las críticas equivocadas que se presentan en dicho artículo de opinión. Palabras clave: Avialae, dinosaurios terópodos maniraptores, evolución de las aves, evolución de las plumas, evolución del vuelo, sistemática filogenética Q 2015 American Ornithologists' Union.

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Evolving Perceptions on the Antiquity of the Modern Avian Tree

Cited by 25 publications

References 110 publications

The genome of a Mesozoic paleovirus reveals the evolution of hepatitis B viruses

The genome of a Mesozoic paleovirus reveals the evolution of hepatitis B viruses

Low ecological disparity in Early Cretaceous birds

Rhetoric vs. reality: A commentary on “Bird Origins Anew” by A. Feduccia

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