New Early Cretaceous fossil from China documents a novel trophic specialization for Mesozoic birds

Hou, Lianping; Chiappe, Luis M.; Zhang, Fucheng; Chuong, Cheng‐Ming

doi:10.1007/s00114-003-0489-1

Cited by 87 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 7 publications

(6 reference statements)

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“…For instance, the enantiornithine Longipteryx was believed to be piscivorous (32), which distinguishes it from most other enantiornithines that were probably mainly insectivorous. Another enantiornithine with specialized diet is Longirostravis, which probably had a probing feeding adaptation (15). The basal bird Jeholornis is a specialized seedeater with a very robust jaws adapted for crushing (8).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discovery of an ornithurine bird and its implication for Early Cretaceous avian radiation

Zhou

Zhang

2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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An ornithurine bird, Hongshanornis longicresta gen. et sp. nov., represented by a nearly complete and articulated skeleton in full plumage, has been recovered from the lacustrine deposits of the Lower Cretaceous Jehol Group in Inner Mongolia, northeast China. The bird had completely reduced teeth and possessed a beak in both the upper and lower jaws, representing the earliest known beaked ornithurine. The preservation of a predentary bone confirms that this structure is not unique to ornithischian dinosaurs but was common in early ornithurine birds. This small bird had a strong flying capability with a low aspect ratio wing. It was probably a wader, feeding in shallow water or marshes. This find confirms that the aquatic environment had played a key role in the origin and early radiation of ornithurines, one branch of which eventually gave rise to extant birds near the Cretaceous͞Tertiary boundary. This discovery provides important information not only for studying the origin and early evolution of ornithurines but also for understanding the differentiation in morphology, body size, and diet of the Early Cretaceous birds.evolutionary radiation ͉ fossil bird ͉ Inner Mongolia ͉ beak

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discovery of an ornithurine bird and its implication for Early Cretaceous avian radiation

Zhou

Zhang

2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…2C; , IVPP V11309-the holotype of Longirostravis hani ( Fig. 2B; Hou et al 2004), NIGP-CAS 130722-the holotype of Hebeiornis fengningensis (Xu et al 1999;Zhang et al 2004), IVPP V11665-the holotype of Protopteryx fengningensis , IVPP V9769-the holotype of Cathayornis yandica (Figs 1F, 2J;Zhou et al 1992), DNHM D1878-the holotype of Shanweiniao cooperorum (O'Connor et al 2009), and LPM 00009, LPM 00038 and LPM B00017 ( Fig. 2I; published as LPM 00040)-three specimens of Alethoalaornis agitornis .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hebeiornis, Shenqiornis, Eocathayornis). In the longipterygids Longirostravis, Rapaxavis and Longipteryx, the dentary is overall slightly concave ventrally (Hou et al 2004;Morschhauser et al 2009;O'Connor et al 2009). Gobipteryx reportedly differs from Early Cretaceous enantiornithines in that the mandibular bones are nearly completely fused (dentaries strongly ankylosed in IGM -100/1011; Chiappe et al 2001) and the caudal articulation of the dentary is forked, as in more advanced birds (Elzanowski 1977).…”

Section: Mandiblementioning

confidence: 99%

A revision of enantiornithine (Aves: Ornithothoraces) skull morphology

O’Connor

Chiappe

2011

Journal of Systematic Palaeontology

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109

153

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Enantiornithines are the most speciose avian clade in the Mesozoic, with a fossil record that nearly spans the Cretaceous; however, with less than half of known taxa preserving skull material, our understanding of their cranial morphology remains incomplete. Here we present a comprehensive overview of the current knowledge of enantiornithine skull anatomy and discuss the range of morphologies known for each of the main cranial elements. The typical enantiornithine skull retains numerous ancestral features such as the absence of fusion among bones, the presence of a postorbital bone, a primitive quadrate with a single headed otic process, an unforked dentary, and teeth. The postorbital in at least one taxon is unreduced, suggesting the existence of a complete infratemporal fenestra and thus an unmodified diapsid skull as in confuciusornithids. The rostrum is well known and shows considerable variation, typical of theropods; however, in terms of rostral proportions, enantiornithines are extremely limited within the modern avian spectrum. Although Late Cretaceous skull material is extremely fragmentary, when compared to Early Cretaceous material it reveals a trend towards more specialized morphologies in younger taxa. The foramen magnum in all taxa points caudally, indicating that the 'flexed' type skull morphology may not have evolved in this group. Enantiornithine teeth show considerable diversity in numbers, size, morphology and placement, ranging from taxa with large teeth found throughout the jaws to taxa with small, rostrally restricted teeth, to the fully edentulous. Despite limited preservation of skull material, a number of trophic specializations can be deduced from the range of preserved morphologies, further hinting at the morphological and ecological diversity of the Cretaceous Enantiornithes.

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“…It also has clawed wings and probably lived in an arboreal habitat, picking worms and fruits with its conical shaped beak. Recently, Longirostravis, the earliest known wading bird fossil, was found in the same area (Hou et al, 2004). The unique feature is that its beak is preferentially elongated, in comparison to other dimensions of the beak.…”

Section: Origin and Evolution Of Avian Beaksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accompanying the evolution of flight were novel eco-morphological opportunities that drove the evolution of diverse beak shapes (Zweers et al, 1997;Hou et al, 2003Hou et al, , 2004. The recruitment of forelimbs as wings allowed a newly found mobility resulting from flight and opened vast ecomorphological possibilities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphoregulation of avian beaks: Comparative mapping of growth zone activities and morphological evolution

Jiang

Shen

et al. 2006

Developmental Dynamics

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117

122

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Avian beak diversity is a classic example of morphological evolution. Recently, we showed that localized cell proliferation mediated by bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) can explain the different shapes of chicken and duck beaks (Wu et al. [2004] Science 305:1465). Here, we compare further growth activities among chicken (conical and slightly curved), duck (straight and long), and cockatiel (highly curved) developing beak primordia. We found differential growth activities among different facial prominences and within one prominence. The duck has a wider frontal nasal mass (FNM), and more sustained fibroblast growth factor 8 activity. The cockatiel has a thicker FNM that grows more vertically and a relatively reduced mandibular prominence. In each prominence the number, size, and position of localized growth zones can vary: it is positioned more rostrally in the duck and more posteriorly in the cockatiel FNM, correlating with beak curvature. BMP4 is enriched in these localized growth zones. When BMP activity is experimentally altered in all prominences, beak size was enlarged or reduced proportionally. When only specific prominences were altered, the prototypic conical shaped chicken beaks were converted into an array of beak shapes mimicking those in nature. These results suggest that the size of beaks can be modulated by the overall activity of the BMP pathway, which mediates the growth. The shape of the beaks can be fine-tuned by localized BMP activity, which mediates the range, level, and duration of locally enhanced growth. Implications of topobiology vs. molecular blueprint concepts in the Evo-Devo of avian beak forms are discussed.

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New Early Cretaceous fossil from China documents a novel trophic specialization for Mesozoic birds

Cited by 87 publications

References 7 publications

Discovery of an ornithurine bird and its implication for Early Cretaceous avian radiation

Discovery of an ornithurine bird and its implication for Early Cretaceous avian radiation

A revision of enantiornithine (Aves: Ornithothoraces) skull morphology

Morphoregulation of avian beaks: Comparative mapping of growth zone activities and morphological evolution

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