DOCSLIB.ORG

Phylogenetically Vetted and Stratigraphically Constrained Fossil Calibrations Within Aves

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Phylogenetically Vetted and Stratigraphically Constrained Fossil Calibrations Within Aves Palaeontologia Electronica palaeo-electronica.org Phylogenetically vetted and stratigraphically constrained fossil calibrations within Aves Daniel Ksepka and Julia Clarke ABSTRACT Understanding the timing of the crown radiation of birds is a major goal of avian molecular systematists and paleontologists. Despite the availability of ever-larger molecular datasets and increasingly sophisticated methods for phylogeny reconstruc- tion and divergence time estimation, relatively little attention has been paid to outlining and applying fossil calibrations. As the avian fossil record has become better sampled, and more extinct taxa have been incorporated into a phylogenetic framework, the potential for this record to serve as a powerful source of temporal data for divergence dating analyses has increased. Nonetheless, the desire for abundant calibrations must be balanced by careful vetting of candidate fossils, especially given the prevalence of inaccurate fossil calibrations in the recent past. In this contribution, we provide seven phylogenetically vetted fossil calibrations for major divergences within crown Aves rep- resenting the splits between (1) Anatoidea, (2) Sphenisciformes, (3) Coracioidea, (4) Apodidae, (5) Coliiformes, (6) Psittaciformes, and (7) Upupiformes, and the respective extant sister taxon for each of these clades. Each calibration is based an individual specimen, which maintains the clearest possible chain of inference for converting the relevant stratigraphic horizon to a numerical date. Minimum ages for each fossil are tightly constrained and incorporate associated dating errors, and the distributions of younger fossils from the clades of interest are summarized to provide a starting point for workers interested in estimating confidence intervals or outlining prior age distribu- tion curves. Daniel Ksepka. National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, Durham, North Carolina, 27706, USA. [email protected] Current address: Bruce Museum, Greenwich, Connecticut 06830, USA Julia Clarke. Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78713, USA. [email protected] Keywords: divergence dating; molecular clock; birds PE Article Number: 18.1.3FC Copyright: Society for Vertebrate Paleontology February 2015 Submission: 14 January 2013. Acceptance: 14 October 2014 Ksepka, Daniel and Clarke, Julia. 2015. Phylogenetically vetted and stratigraphically constrained fossil calibrations within Aves. Palaeontologia Electronica 18.1.3FC; 1-25; palaeo-electronica.org/content/fc-3 Calibrations published in the Fossil Calibration Series are accessioned into the Fossil Calibration Database (www.fossilcalibra- tions.org). The Database is a dynamic tool for finding up-to-date calibrations, and calibration data will be updated and annotated as interpretations change. In contrast, the Fossil Calibration papers are a permanent published record of the information on which the cal- ibrations were originally based. Please refer to the Database for the latest data. KSEPKA & CLARKE: AVIAN CALIBRATIONS INTRODUCTION allow implementation of prior age distributions (e.g., Thorne et al., 1998; Yang and Rannala, Divergence dating analyses can provide 2006; Yang, 2007; Drummond et al., 2006; Drum- insight into the timing of evolutionary radiations, mond and Rambaut, 2007). Depending on the placing them in the context of plate tectonic events, analysis, prior distribution curves may be narrow climate shifts, and mass extinctions. Fossils pro- and multiple calibrations may strongly impact one vide a crucial source of temporal information that another (e.g., Ho and Phillips, 2009; Inoue et al., allows nodes in molecular trees to be tied to the 2010; Clarke et al., 2011; Warnock et al., 2012). geological time scale. As methods for divergence For this reason, precision in fossil dating is recog- dating and their computer implementation have nized to be of crucial importance. Beyond this, become more sophisticated, the importance of fos- stratigraphic revisions that occur subsequent to the sil calibrations has grown. The need for precise initial description of a fossil are often overlooked, phylogenetic placement and stratigraphic con- resulting in obsolete age estimates being retained straint of these fossil calibrations is evident. in the systematic literature. One need only com- Birds have been frequent targets of diver- pare recent Cenozoic time scales (e.g., Gradstein gence dating analyses (e.g., Hedges et al., 1996; et al., 2004, figure 1.7) to understand the magni- Cooper and Penny, 1997; van Tuinen and Hedges, tude of change in global geochronology over the 2001; van Tuinen and Dyke, 2004; Shapiro et al., past few decades, to say nothing of local revisions 2002; Ericson et al., 2006; Baker et al., 2007; within individual formations. Pereira et al., 2007; Brown et al., 2008; Pratt et al, In this paper, we lay out the justification for a 2009; Phillips et al., 2010; Pacheco et al., 2011; set of fossil calibrations within the crown radiation White et al., 2011). A common thread in these of birds. We propose seven phylogenetically and analyses has been testing whether the avian crown stratigraphically constrained fossils from clades radiation was well underway during the Creta- distributed widely across Aves. Our calibrations fol- ceous, implying a wave of mass survivorship low the best practice guidelines outlined by Par- across the K-Pg boundary, or took place primarily ham et al. (2012) in (1) basing each calibration on in the Paleogene, implying an explosive radiation an individual specimen, (2) referencing an apomor- following the K-Pg mass extinction (reviewed by phy-based diagnosis or phylogenetic analysis Penny and Phillips, 2004). Despite strong interest including this specimen, (3) resolving any conflict in avian divergence dating, there has been rela- between morphological and molecular data sets tively little effort expended on explicitly justifying that affect the reliability of the fossil calibration,(4) the phylogenetic placement of fossil calibrations for providing the explicit stratigraphic context of the key nodes. The majority of avian fossils that have fossil, and (5) translating stratigraphic placement to been applied as fossil calibrations have never been a numerical date via connection to radiometric included in a phylogenetic analysis (Ksepka et al., dates and/or the geological time scale. We further 2011), and a substantial number have been applied apply slightly stricter criteria in this contribution, to nodes that contradict the most recent placement recommending fossils as calibrations only if (1) the of fossil taxa (e.g., Mayr, 2005a; Ksepka, 2009; specimen comprises at least a partial skeleton, (2) Wijnker and Olson, 2009; Smith, in press). We sus- the species has been included in a phylogenetic pect that many inaccurate calibrations can be analysis, and (3) the gap between the age of the attributed to the unwarranted assumption that fossil calibrating fossil and the next oldest representative bird taxonomy reflects phylogeny, e.g., the misat- of its clade spans less than 10 Ma. We do not take tribution of stem lineage fossils to extant families. the position that fossils failing to meet these addi- Until recently, phylogenetic work on fossil members tional criteria should not be used as calibrations. of the crown radiation of birds has been sparse, However, given the history of single elements and the list of fossils that were formerly shoe- being erroneously assigned to extant clades and horned into extant higher taxa is long (e.g., Olson, active disputes over the affinities of fossils in avian 1985; Mayr, 2009). paleontology, increasing the threshold for the fossil Inaccurate or imprecise ages have been tied calibrations presented here should ensure they are to avian fossil calibrations as well. This is in part of maximum stability and reliability. Choosing rela- due to the complex chain of inference that must be tively complete fossils has the added appeal of applied to translate stratigraphic occurrences into facilitating the application of methods that directly numerical dates. Although early analyses often incorporate fossils as terminal taxa in divergence treated calibrations as point constraints or hard minima, many current divergence dating methods 2 PALAEO-ELECTRONICA.ORG dating analysis (e.g., Ware et al., 2010; Pyron, ranges such as biozones are continually improving 2011; Ronquist et al., 2012). the accuracy and precision of age estimates. In Several of the fossils discussed here have translating global stratigraphic boundaries into previously been used as calibrations. However, in numerical dates, we relied on the Geological Time each of these cases the calibration has been Scale 2012 (Gradstein et al., 2012). However, in applied either to a different node or with a different many cases we were able to access local strati- minimum age (in some cases varying by several graphic data such as radiometrically dated ash lay- million years). Such discrepancies illustrate the ers to provide a more precise age constraint. By strength of tying calibrations to an individual fossil presenting not only the most recent age estimate specimen, and the importance of explicitly stating for each fossil but also an explicit justification for the justification for the placement and the age of this age, we hope to provide those interested in uti- each calibration point. lizing these fossil calibrations with a means of veri- In outlining the justification
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Current Perspectives on the Evolution of Birds
    Contributions to Zoology, 77 (2) 109-116 (2008) Current perspectives on the evolution of birds Per G.P. Ericson Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, P.O. Box 50007, SE-10405 Stockholm, Sweden, [email protected] Key words: Aves, phylogeny, systematics, fossils, DNA, genetics, biogeography Contents (cf. Göhlich and Chiappe, 2006), making feathers a plesiomorphy in birds. Indeed, only three synapo- Systematic relationships ........................................................ 109 morphies have been proposed for Aves (Chiappe, Genome characteristics ......................................................... 111 2002), although monophyly is never seriously ques- A comparison with previous classifications ...................... 112 Character evolution ............................................................... 113 tioned: 1) the caudal margin of naris nearly reaching Evolutionary trends ............................................................... 113 or overlapping the rostral border of the antorbital Biogeography and biodiversity ............................................ 113 fossa (in the primitive condition the caudal margin Differentiation and speciation ............................................. 114 of naris is farther rostral than the rostral border of Acknowledgements ................................................................ 115 the antorbital fossa), 2) scapula with a prominent References ................................................................................ 115 acromion,
    [Show full text]
  • Bayesian Total-Evidence Dating Reveals the Recent Crown Radiation of Penguins Alexandra Gavryushkina University of Auckland
    Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology Publications 2017 Bayesian Total-Evidence Dating Reveals the Recent Crown Radiation of Penguins Alexandra Gavryushkina University of Auckland Tracy A. Heath Iowa State University, [email protected] Daniel T. Ksepka Bruce Museum David Welch University of Auckland Alexei J. Drummond University of Auckland Follow this and additional works at: http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/eeob_ag_pubs Part of the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons The ompc lete bibliographic information for this item can be found at http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/ eeob_ag_pubs/207. For information on how to cite this item, please visit http://lib.dr.iastate.edu/ howtocite.html. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology Publications by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Syst. Biol. 66(1):57–73, 2017 © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Society of Systematic Biologists. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact [email protected] DOI:10.1093/sysbio/syw060 Advance Access publication August 24, 2016 Bayesian Total-Evidence Dating Reveals the Recent Crown Radiation of Penguins , ,∗ , ALEXANDRA GAVRYUSHKINA1 2 ,TRACY A.
    [Show full text]
  • Disaggregation of Bird Families Listed on Cms Appendix Ii
    Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals 2nd Meeting of the Sessional Committee of the CMS Scientific Council (ScC-SC2) Bonn, Germany, 10 – 14 July 2017 UNEP/CMS/ScC-SC2/Inf.3 DISAGGREGATION OF BIRD FAMILIES LISTED ON CMS APPENDIX II (Prepared by the Appointed Councillors for Birds) Summary: The first meeting of the Sessional Committee of the Scientific Council identified the adoption of a new standard reference for avian taxonomy as an opportunity to disaggregate the higher-level taxa listed on Appendix II and to identify those that are considered to be migratory species and that have an unfavourable conservation status. The current paper presents an initial analysis of the higher-level disaggregation using the Handbook of the Birds of the World/BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World Volumes 1 and 2 taxonomy, and identifies the challenges in completing the analysis to identify all of the migratory species and the corresponding Range States. The document has been prepared by the COP Appointed Scientific Councilors for Birds. This is a supplementary paper to COP document UNEP/CMS/COP12/Doc.25.3 on Taxonomy and Nomenclature UNEP/CMS/ScC-Sc2/Inf.3 DISAGGREGATION OF BIRD FAMILIES LISTED ON CMS APPENDIX II 1. Through Resolution 11.19, the Conference of Parties adopted as the standard reference for bird taxonomy and nomenclature for Non-Passerine species the Handbook of the Birds of the World/BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World, Volume 1: Non-Passerines, by Josep del Hoyo and Nigel J. Collar (2014); 2.
    [Show full text]
  • Aves, Coraciiformes SENSU STRICTO), with first Records from Europe
    Journal of Systematic Palaentology 2 (1): 1–12 Issued 11 March 2004 DOI: 10.1017/S1477201903001093 Printed in the United Kingdom C The Natural History Museum Osteology and systematic position of the Eocene Primobucconidae (Aves, Coraciiformes SENSU STRICTO), with first records from Europe Gerald Mayr Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Division of Ornithology, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany Cecile´ Mourer-Chauvire´ UMR 5125 Pal´eoenvironnements et Pal´eobiosph`ere, Centre des Sciences de la Terre, Universit´eClaude Bernard-Lyon 1, 27–43 Boulevard du 11 Novembre, 69622 Villeurbanne Cedex, France Ilka Weidig Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Division of Ornithology, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany SYNOPSIS The first complete skeletons of the early Eocene avian taxon Primobucconidae Brodkorb, 1970 are described and the osteology and systematic position of these poorly known birds are revised. New specimens from Germany (Messel) and France (Cond´e-en-Brie) are the first Old World records of this taxon. From Messel, two new species, Primobucco perneri sp. nov. and P. frugilegus sp. nov., are described. Cladistic analysis of 36 morphological characters from 14 ingroup taxa placed the Primobucconidae in an unresolved polytomy including fossil and extant rollers (Coraciiformes sensu stricto). Derived characters are presented that support this classification. The Primobucconidae is yet another taxon that exemplifies the great similarity between the early Eocene avifaunas of North America and Europe. It further constitutes the first record of stem group rollers in the New World. Both known specimens of P. frugilegus are preserved with seeds in the area of the stomach, which may indicate that stem group rollers had a more generalised diet than their extant relatives.
    [Show full text]
  • PALEOGENE FOSSILS and the RADIATION of MODERN BIRDS HQ F
    The Auk 122(4):1049–1054, 2005 © The American Ornithologists’ Union, 2005. Printed in USA. OVERVIEW PALEOGENE FOSSILS AND THE RADIATION OF MODERN BIRDS Hq F. Jrx1 Division of Birds, MRC-116, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20013, USA M birds arose mainly in 1989, Mayr and Manegold 2004), and others. the Neogene Period (1.8–23.8 mya), and mod- Paleogene fossils also document diverse extinct ern species mainly in the Plio-Pleistocene branches of the neornithine tree, ranging from (0.08–5.3 mya). Neogene fossil birds generally large pseudotoothed seabirds to giant fl ightless resemble modern taxa, and those that cannot land birds to small zygodactyl perching birds be a ributed to a modern genus or species (Ballmann 1969, Harrison and Walker 1976, can usually be placed in a modern family with Andors 1992). a fair degree of confi dence (e.g. Becker 1987, Before the Paleogene, fossils of putative neor- Olson and Rasmussen 2001). Fossil birds from nithine birds are sparse and fragmentary (Hope earlier in the Cenozoic can be more challeng- 2002), and their phylogenetic placement is all ing to classify. The fossil birds of the Paleogene the more equivocal. The Paleogene is thus a cru- (23.8–65.5 mya) are clearly a ributable to the cial time period for understanding the history of Neornithes (modern birds), and the earliest diversifi cation of birds, particularly with respect well-established records of most traditional to the deeper branches of the neornithine tree. orders and families of modern birds occur then.
    [Show full text]
  • Insular Vertebrate Evolution: the Palaeontological Approach': Monografies De La Societat D'història Natural De Les Balears, Lz: Z05-118
    19 DESCRIPTION OF THE SKULL OF THE GENUS SYLVIORNIS POPLIN, 1980 (AVES, GALLIFORMES, SYLVIORNITHIDAE NEW FAMILY), A GIANT EXTINCT BIRD FROM THE HOLOCENE OF NEW CALEDONIA Cécile MOURER-CHAUVIRÉ & Jean Christophe BALOUET MOUREH-CHAUVIRÉ, C. & BALOUET, l.C, zoos. Description of the skull of the genus Syluiornis Poplin, 1980 (Aves, Galliformes, Sylviornithidae new family), a giant extinct bird from the Holocene of New Caledonia. In ALCOVER, J.A. & BaVER, P. (eds.): Proceedings of the International Symposium "Insular Vertebrate Evolution: the Palaeontological Approach': Monografies de la Societat d'Història Natural de les Balears, lZ: Z05-118. Resum El crani de Sylviornismostra una articulació craniarostral completament mòbil, amb dos còndils articulars situats sobre el rostrum, el qual s'insereix al crani en dues superfícies articulars allargades. La presència de dos procesos rostropterigoideus sobre el basisfenoide del rostrum i la forma dels palatins permet confirmar que aquest gènere pertany als Galliformes, però les característiques altament derivades del crani justifiquen el seu emplaçament a una nova família, extingida, Sylviornithidae. El crani de Syluiornis està extremadament eixamplat i dorsoventralment aplanat, mentre que el rostrum és massís, lateralment comprimit, dorsoventralment aixecat i mostra unes cristae tomiales molt fondes. El rostrum exhibeix un ornament ossi gran. La mandíbula mostra una símfisi molt allargada, les branques laterals també presenten unes cristae tomiales fondes, i la part posterior de la mandíbula és molt gruixada. Es discuteix el possible origen i l'alimentació de Syluiornis. Paraules clau: Aves, Galliformes, Extinció, Holocè, Nova Caledònia. Abstract The skull of Syluiornis shows a completely mobile craniorostral articulation, with two articular condyles situated on the rostrum, which insert into two elongated articular surfaces on the cranium.
    [Show full text]
  • Lowest Paleogene Strata on Vega Island, Antarctica
    Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 402 (2014) 55–72 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/palaeo Stratigraphy and vertebrate paleoecology of Upper Cretaceous–?lowest Paleogene strata on Vega Island, Antarctica Eric M. Roberts a,⁎, Matthew C. Lamanna b, Julia A. Clarke c, Jin Meng d, Eric Gorscak e, Joseph J.W. Sertich f, Patrick M. O'Connor e, Kerin M. Claeson g,RossD.E.MacPheeh a School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia b Section of Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA c Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station C1100, Austin, TX 78712, USA d Department of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th St., New York, NY 10024, USA e Department of Biomedical Sciences, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA f Department of Earth Sciences, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, 2001 Colorado Blvd., Denver, CO 80205, USA g Department of Biomedical Sciences, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19131, USA h Department of Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th St., New York, NY 10024, USA article info abstract Article history: The Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Sandwich Bluff Member of the López de Bertodano Formation is well Received 24 October 2013 exposed on Vega Island in the James Ross Basin off the northeastern coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. Although Received in revised form 18 February 2014 this unit is one of the richest sources of end-Cretaceous vertebrate fossils in Antarctica, it is also one of the Accepted 3 March 2014 least sedimentologically and stratigraphically characterized units in the basin.
    [Show full text]
  • A Rhinopristiform Sawfish (Genus Pristis) from the Middle Eocene (Lutetian) of Southern Peru and Its Regional Implications
    Carnets Geol. 20 (5) E-ISSN 1634-0744 DOI 10.4267/2042/70759 A rhinopristiform sawfish (genus Pristis) from the middle Eocene (Lutetian) of southern Peru and its regional implications Alberto COLLARETA 1, 2 Luz TEJADA-MEDINA 3, 4 César CHACALTANA-BUDIEL 3, 5 Walter LANDINI 1, 6 Alí ALTAMIRANO-SIERRA 7, 8 Mario URBINA-SCHMITT 7, 9 Giovanni BIANUCCI 1, 10 Abstract: Modern sawfishes (Rhinopristiformes: Pristidae) are circumglobally distributed in warm wa- ters and are common in proximal marine and even freshwater habitats. The fossil record of modern pristid genera (i.e., Pristis and Anoxypristis) dates back to the early Eocene and is mostly represented by isolated rostral spines and oral teeth, with phosphatised rostra representing exceptional occurren- ces. Here, we report on a partial pristid rostrum, exhibiting several articulated rostral spines, from middle Eocene strata of the Paracas Formation (Yumaque Member) exposed in the southern Peruvian East Pisco Basin. This finely preserved specimen shows anatomical structures that are unlikely to leave a fossil record, e.g., the paracentral grooves that extend along the ventral surface of the rostrum. Ba- sed on the morphology of the rostral spines, this fossil sawfish is here identified as belonging to Pristis. To our knowledge, this discovery represents the geologically oldest known occurrence of Pristidae from the Pacific Coast of South America. Although the fossil record of pristids from the East Pisco Basin spans from the middle Eocene to the late Miocene, sawfishes are no longer present in the modern cool, upwelling-influenced coastal waters of southern Peru. Given the ecological preferences of the extant members of Pristis, the occurrence of this genus in the Paracas deposits suggests that middle Eocene nearshore waters in southern Peru were warmer than today.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Vol. 11, No. 3
    BULLETIN OF THE FLORIDA STATE MUSEUM BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES Volume 11 Number 3 CATALOGUE OF FOSSIL BIRDS: Part 3 (Ralliformes, Ichthyornithiformes, Charadriiformes) Pierce Brodkorb M,4 * . /853 0 UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA Gainesville 1967 Numbers of the BULLETIN OF THE FLORIDA STATE MUSEUM are pub- lished at irregular intervals. Volumes contain about 800 pages and are not nec- essarily completed in any one calendar year. WALTER AuFFENBERC, Managing Editor OLIVER L. AUSTIN, JA, Editor Consultants for this issue. ~ HILDEGARDE HOWARD ALExANDER WErMORE Communications concerning purchase or exchange of the publication and all manuscripts should be addressed to the Managing Editor of the Bulletin, Florida State Museum, Seagle Building, Gainesville, Florida. 82601 Published June 12, 1967 Price for this issue $2.20 CATALOGUE OF FOSSIL BIRDS: Part 3 ( Ralliformes, Ichthyornithiformes, Charadriiformes) PIERCE BRODKORBl SYNOPSIS: The third installment of the Catalogue of Fossil Birds treats 84 families comprising the orders Ralliformes, Ichthyornithiformes, and Charadriiformes. The species included in this section number 866, of which 215 are paleospecies and 151 are neospecies. With the addenda of 14 paleospecies, the three parts now published treat 1,236 spDcies, of which 771 are paleospecies and 465 are living or recently extinct. The nominal order- Diatrymiformes is reduced in rank to a suborder of the Ralliformes, and several generally recognized families are reduced to subfamily status. These include Geranoididae and Eogruidae (to Gruidae); Bfontornithidae
    [Show full text]
  • Breeding Birds of the Texas Coast
    Roseate Spoonbill • L 32”• Uncom- Why Birds are Important of the mon, declining • Unmistakable pale Breeding Birds Texas Coast pink wading bird with a long bill end- • Bird abundance is an important indicator of the ing in flat “spoon”• Nests on islands health of coastal ecosystems in vegetation • Wades slowly through American White Pelican • L 62” Reddish Egret • L 30”• Threatened in water, sweeping touch-sensitive bill •Common, increasing • Large, white • Revenue generated by hunting, photography, and Texas, decreasing • Dark morph has slate- side to side in search of prey birdwatching helps support the coastal economy in bird with black flight feathers and gray body with reddish breast, neck, and Chuck Tague bright yellow bill and pouch • Nests Texas head; white morph completely white – both in groups on islands with sparse have pink bill with Black-bellied Whistling-Duck vegetation • Preys on small fish in black tip; shaggy- • L 21”• Lo- groups looking plumage cally common, increasing • Goose-like duck Threats to Island-Nesting Bay Birds Chuck Tague with long neck and pink legs, pinkish-red bill, Greg Lavaty • Nests in mixed- species colonies in low vegetation or on black belly, and white eye-ring • Nests in tree • Habitat loss from erosion and wetland degradation cavities • Occasionally nests in mesquite and Brown Pelican • L 51”• Endangered in ground • Uses quick, erratic movements to • Predators such as raccoons, feral hogs, and stir up prey Chuck Tague other woody vegetation on bay islands Texas, but common and increasing • Large
    [Show full text]
  • Onetouch 4.0 Scanned Documents
    / Chapter 2 THE FOSSIL RECORD OF BIRDS Storrs L. Olson Department of Vertebrate Zoology National Museum of Natural History Smithsonian Institution Washington, DC. I. Introduction 80 II. Archaeopteryx 85 III. Early Cretaceous Birds 87 IV. Hesperornithiformes 89 V. Ichthyornithiformes 91 VI. Other Mesozojc Birds 92 VII. Paleognathous Birds 96 A. The Problem of the Origins of Paleognathous Birds 96 B. The Fossil Record of Paleognathous Birds 104 VIII. The "Basal" Land Bird Assemblage 107 A. Opisthocomidae 109 B. Musophagidae 109 C. Cuculidae HO D. Falconidae HI E. Sagittariidae 112 F. Accipitridae 112 G. Pandionidae 114 H. Galliformes 114 1. Family Incertae Sedis Turnicidae 119 J. Columbiformes 119 K. Psittaciforines 120 L. Family Incertae Sedis Zygodactylidae 121 IX. The "Higher" Land Bird Assemblage 122 A. Coliiformes 124 B. Coraciiformes (Including Trogonidae and Galbulae) 124 C. Strigiformes 129 D. Caprimulgiformes 132 E. Apodiformes 134 F. Family Incertae Sedis Trochilidae 135 G. Order Incertae Sedis Bucerotiformes (Including Upupae) 136 H. Piciformes 138 I. Passeriformes 139 X. The Water Bird Assemblage 141 A. Gruiformes 142 B. Family Incertae Sedis Ardeidae 165 79 Avian Biology, Vol. Vlll ISBN 0-12-249408-3 80 STORES L. OLSON C. Family Incertae Sedis Podicipedidae 168 D. Charadriiformes 169 E. Anseriformes 186 F. Ciconiiformes 188 G. Pelecaniformes 192 H. Procellariiformes 208 I. Gaviiformes 212 J. Sphenisciformes 217 XI. Conclusion 217 References 218 I. Introduction Avian paleontology has long been a poor stepsister to its mammalian counterpart, a fact that may be attributed in some measure to an insufRcien- cy of qualified workers and to the absence in birds of heterodont teeth, on which the greater proportion of the fossil record of mammals is founded.
    [Show full text]
  • An Avian Femur from the Late Cretaceous of Vega Island, Antarctic Peninsula: Removing the Record of Cursorial Landbirds from the Mesozoic of Antarctica
    An avian femur from the Late Cretaceous of Vega Island, Antarctic Peninsula: removing the record of cursorial landbirds from the Mesozoic of Antarctica Abagael R. West1,2,3, Christopher R. Torres4, Judd A. Case5, Julia A. Clarke4,6, Patrick M. O’Connor7,8 and Matthew C. Lamanna1 1 Section of Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA, USA 2 Section of Mammals, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, PA, USA 3 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA 4 Department of Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA 5 Department of Biology, Eastern Washington University, Cheney, WA, USA 6 Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA 7 Department of Biomedical Sciences, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Athens, OH, USA 8 Ohio Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Studies, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA ABSTRACT In 2006, a partial avian femur (South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSM) 78247) from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Sandwich Bluff Member of the López de Bertodano Formation of Sandwich Bluff on Vega Island of the northern Antarctic Peninsula was briefly reported as that of a cariamiform—a clade that includes extant and volant South American species and many extinct flightless and cursorial species. Although other authors have since rejected this taxonomic assignment, SDSM 78247 had never been the subject of a detailed description, hindering a definitive assessment
    [Show full text]