The Origin and Evolution of Birds, 2Nd Edition
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The Mesozoic Era Alvarez, W.(1997)
Alles Introductory Biology: Illustrated Lecture Presentations Instructor David L. Alles Western Washington University ----------------------- Part Three: The Integration of Biological Knowledge Vertebrate Evolution in the Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic Eras ----------------------- Vertebrate Evolution in the Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic • Amphibians to Reptiles Internal Fertilization, the Amniotic Egg, and a Water-Tight Skin • The Adaptive Radiation of Reptiles from Scales to Hair and Feathers • Therapsids to Mammals • Dinosaurs to Birds Ectothermy to Endothermy The Evolution of Reptiles The Phanerozoic Eon 444 365 251 Paleozoic Era 542 m.y.a. 488 416 360 299 Camb. Ordov. Sil. Devo. Carbon. Perm. Cambrian Pikaia Fish Fish First First Explosion w/o jaws w/ jaws Amphibians Reptiles 210 65 Mesozoic Era 251 200 180 150 145 Triassic Jurassic Cretaceous First First First T. rex Dinosaurs Mammals Birds Cenozoic Era Last Ice Age 65 56 34 23 5 1.8 0.01 Paleo. Eocene Oligo. Miocene Plio. Ple. Present Early Primate First New First First Modern Cantius World Monkeys Apes Hominins Humans A modern Amphibian—the toad A modern day Reptile—a skink, note the finely outlined scales. A Comparison of Amphibian and Reptile Reproduction The oldest known reptile is Hylonomus lyelli dating to ~ 320 m.y.a.. The earliest or stem reptiles radiated into therapsids leading to mammals, and archosaurs leading to all the other reptile groups including the thecodontians, ancestors of the dinosaurs. Dimetrodon, a Mammal-like Reptile of the Early Permian Dicynodonts were a group of therapsids of the late Permian. Web Reference http://www.museums.org.za/sam/resource/palaeo/cluver/index.html Therapsids experienced an adaptive radiation during the Permian, but suffered heavy extinctions during the end Permian mass extinction. -
Alan Feduccia's Riddle of the Feathered Dragons: What Reptiles
Leigh Evolution: Education and Outreach 2014, 7:9 http://www.evolution-outreach.com/content/7/1/9 BOOK REVIEW Open Access Alan Feduccia’s Riddle of the Feathered Dragons: what reptiles gave rise to birds? Egbert Giles Leigh Jr Riddle of the Feathered Dragons: Hidden Birds of China, properly. This is a great pity, for his story is wonderful: by Alan Feduccia. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, his birds would have made a far better focus for this 2012. Pp. x + 358. H/b $55.00 book than the dispute. This book’s author is at home in the paleontology, So, what is this dispute that spoiled the book? The anatomy, physiology, and behavior of birds. Who could scientific argument is easily summarized. It started be more qualified to write on their origin and evolution? when a paleontologist from Yale University, John Ostrom, This book is unusually, indeed wonderfully, well and unearthed a 75-kg bipedal theropod dinosaur, Deinonychus, clearly illustrated: its producers cannot be praised too buried 110 million years ago in Montana. Deinonychus highly. It is well worth the while of anyone interested in stood a meter tall, and its tail was 1.5 m long. It was active: bird evolution to read it. Although it offers no answers Ostrom thought that both it and Archaeopteryx,which to ‘where birds came from’, it has God’s plenty of fascin- lived 40 million years earlier, were warm-blooded. Deinony- ating, revealing detail, knit together in powerful criticism chus bore many skeletal resemblances to Archaeopteryx, of prevailing views of bird evolution. -
ORIGIN and EVOLUTION of BIRDS Dr. Ramesh Pathak B.Sc. (Hons.) –II
ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF BIRDS Dr. Ramesh Pathak B.Sc. (hons.) –II Prof. Parker has shown a number of peculiarities between birds and repiles,so,he said “birds are transformed and glorified reptiles”. Huxley has established a very close relationship by saying birds are “feathered reptiles”. THEORIES OF ORIGIN OF BIRDS A. Cursorial theory : This theory was championed by Baron Nopsa who maintained that the birds evolved from cursorial bipedal dinosaurs. In attempt to move faster during running to pull themselves a bit faster they moved and beat their arms. In such condition, due to continuous use of arms as propellers brought constant increase in the length and breadth of scales present on them. As the scales lengthened ,the pressure against the air caused their edges frayed leading to scales changing into feathers. But this theory was rejected because scales and feathers are fundamentally different structures arising from different layers of skin. B.Tetrapteryx theory :It was proposed by Beebe and Gregorg. According to this theory the ancestors of birds were arboreal reptiles who used to jump from branch to branch and in doing so the scales were transformed into feathers by fraying of the edges. After developing feathers on all the four limbs (Tetrapteryx stage), they used only the anterior wings and the unused posterior wings were lost. This theory was also discarded because there is no evidence that birds had ever four wings. C. Gliding thery : It is based on the idea of Beebe and Georg.It was proposed by Heilmann but does not recognize the tetrapteryx stage. -
Phylogeny and Avian Evolution Phylogeny and Evolution of the Aves
Phylogeny and Avian Evolution Phylogeny and Evolution of the Aves I. Background Scientists have speculated about evolution of birds ever since Darwin. Difficult to find relatives using only modern animals After publi cati on of “O rigi i in of S peci es” (~1860) some used birds as a counter-argument since th ere were no k nown t ransiti onal f orms at the time! • turtles have modified necks and toothless beaks • bats fly and are warm blooded With fossil discovery other potential relationships! • Birds as distinct order of reptiles Many non-reptilian characteristics (e.g. endothermy, feathers) but really reptilian in structure! If birds only known from fossil record then simply be a distinct order of reptiles. II. Reptile Evolutionary History A. “Stem reptiles” - Cotylosauria Must begin in the late Paleozoic ClCotylosauri a – “il”“stem reptiles” Radiation of reptiles from Cotylosauria can be organized on the basis of temporal fenestrae (openings in back of skull for muscle attachment). Subsequent reptilian lineages developed more powerful jaws. B. Anapsid Cotylosauria and Chelonia have anapsid pattern C. Syypnapsid – single fenestra Includes order Therapsida which gave rise to mammalia D. Diapsida – both supppratemporal and infratemporal fenestrae PttPattern foun did in exti titnct arch osaurs, survi iiving archosaurs and also in primitive lepidosaur – ShSpheno don. All remaining living reptiles and the lineage leading to Aves are classified as Diapsida Handout Mammalia Extinct Groups Cynodontia Therapsida Pelycosaurs Lepidosauromorpha Ichthyosauria Protorothyrididae Synapsida Anapsida Archosauromorpha Euryapsida Mesosaurs Amphibia Sauria Diapsida Eureptilia Sauropsida Amniota Tetrapoda III. Relationshippp to Reptiles Most groups present during Mesozoic considere d ancestors to bird s. -
Curriculum Vitae - ALAN FEDUCCIA (2020)
Brevum Curriculum Vitae - ALAN FEDUCCIA (2020) Position: S. K. Heninger Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Education: Ph.D. Zoology University of Michigan, l969 (NSF Predoctoral Fellow) M.A. Zoology University of Michigan, l966 B.S. Zoology Louisiana State University, l965 (pdf of 2008 museum article attached). Languages: French, Spanish, Italian (conversational). S. K. Heninger Distinguished Professor, University of North Carolina, 1994-2007 (emeritus). Chairman, Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, July 1997-2002. Chairman, Division of Natural Sciences, UNC, 1996-1997; resigned to become Chair. Associate Chair, Department of Biology, July, l982 -1992. Research Associate, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Smithsonian Institution, 1978-1987. William R. Kenan, Jr. Visiting Professor, Smithsonian Institution, 1978. Assistant, Associate, Full Professor, Biology UNC, 1971-74, 1974-79, 1979-2007. Assistant Professor of Biology, Southern Methodist University, 1970-71. Lecturer in Biology, University of Michigan, 1969. Fellow, American Ornithologists’ Union, 1976. Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1994. Who’s Who in America, 2004. Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award, 2018. Naming Recognition: -Presbyorniformipes feduccii, 1995, Presbyornis-like webbed trackway (Eocene) named for Alan Feduccia who identified the trackmaker. -Confuciusornis feducciai, 2009, new species of 120-million-year-old, earliest beaked bird (below), named by Chinese scientists, for Alan Feduccia: “for his contributions to his study of the origin and evolution of birds.” 1 -Feducciavis loftini, 2011, Miocene tern, named by Smithsonian scientist, for Alan Feduccia, citing “his many contributions to the study of fossil birds and his dedication to truth in the search for bird origins.” -Microraptor (four-winged Chinese fossil) named “Alan” for children’s book Comet’s Jurassic Adventure (2017). -
The Origin and Diversification of Birds
Current Biology Review The Origin and Diversification of Birds Stephen L. Brusatte1,*, Jingmai K. O’Connor2,*, and Erich D. Jarvis3,4,* 1School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, Grant Institute, King’s Buildings, James Hutton Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FE, UK 2Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China 3Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA 4Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD 20815, USA *Correspondence: [email protected] (S.L.B.), [email protected] (J.K.O.), [email protected] (E.D.J.) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.08.003 Birds are one of the most recognizable and diverse groups of modern vertebrates. Over the past two de- cades, a wealth of new fossil discoveries and phylogenetic and macroevolutionary studies has transformed our understanding of how birds originated and became so successful. Birds evolved from theropod dino- saurs during the Jurassic (around 165–150 million years ago) and their classic small, lightweight, feathered, and winged body plan was pieced together gradually over tens of millions of years of evolution rather than in one burst of innovation. Early birds diversified throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous, becoming capable fliers with supercharged growth rates, but were decimated at the end-Cretaceous extinction alongside their close dinosaurian relatives. After the mass extinction, modern birds (members of the avian crown group) explosively diversified, culminating in more than 10,000 species distributed worldwide today. Introduction dinosaurs Dromaeosaurus albertensis or Troodon formosus.This Birds are one of the most conspicuous groups of animals in the clade includes all living birds and extinct taxa, such as Archaeop- modern world. -
Body and Limb Size Dissociation at the Origin of Birds: Uncoupling Allometric Constraints Across a Macroevolutionary Transition
ORIGINAL ARTICLE doi:10.1111/evo.12150 BODY AND LIMB SIZE DISSOCIATION AT THE ORIGIN OF BIRDS: UNCOUPLING ALLOMETRIC CONSTRAINTS ACROSS A MACROEVOLUTIONARY TRANSITION T. Alexander Dececchi1,2 and Hans C. E. Larsson3 1Biology Department, University of South Dakota, 414 E Clark Street, Vermillion, South Dakota 57069 2E-mail: [email protected] 3Redpath Museum, McGill University, 859 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2K6 089457 Received May 30, 2012 Accepted April 17, 2013 The origin of birds and powered flight is a classic major evolutionary transition. Research on their origin often focuses on the evolution of the wing with trends of forelimb elongation traced back through many nonavian maniraptoran dinosaurs. We present evidence that the relative forelimb elongation within avian antecedents is primarily due to allometry and is instead driven by a reduction in body size. Once body size is factored out, there is no trend of increasing forelimb length until the origin of birds. We report that early birds and nonavian theropods have significantly different scaling relationships within the forelimb and hindlimb skeleton. Ancestral forelimb and hindlimb allometric scaling to body size is rapidly decoupled at the origin of birds, when wings significantly elongate, by evolving a positive allometric relationship with body size from an ancestrally negative allometric pattern and legs significantly shorten by keeping a similar, near isometric relationship but with a reduced intercept. These results have implications for the evolution of powered flight and early diversification of birds. They suggest that their limb lengths first had to be dissociated from general body size scaling before expanding to the wide range of fore and hindlimb shapes and sizes present in today’s birds. -
On the Absence of Sternal Elements in Anchiornis (Paraves) and Sapeornis (Aves) and the Complex Early Evolution of the Avian Sternum
On the absence of sternal elements in Anchiornis (Paraves) and Sapeornis (Aves) and the complex early evolution of the avian sternum Xiaoting Zhenga,b, Jingmai O’Connorc,1, Xiaoli Wanga, Min Wangc, Xiaomei Zhangb, and Zhonghe Zhouc,1 aInstitute of Geology and Paleontology, Linyi University, Linyi, Shandong 276000, China; bShandong Tianyu Museum of Nature, Pingyi, Shandong 273300, China; and cKey Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China Contributed by Zhonghe Zhou, June 14, 2014 (sent for review April 13, 2014) Anchiornis (Deinonychosauria: Troodontidae), the earliest known inferred importance of the sternum as part of the avian flight feathered dinosaur, and Sapeornis (Aves: Pygostylia), one of the apparatus and at odds with the phylogenetic distribution of os- basalmost Cretaceous birds, are both known from hundreds of sified sterna among maniraptoran theropods. All other groups specimens, although remarkably not one specimen preserves any that are or have been considered closely related to birds (Scan- sternal ossifications. We use histological analysis to confirm the soriopterygidae, Dromaeosauridae, and Oviraptorosauria) pos- absence of this element in adult specimens. Furthermore, the excel- sess paired, ossified sternal plates that fuse into a singular lent preservation of soft-tissue structures in some specimens sug- element (sternum) late in ontogeny in at least some taxa (e.g., gests that no chondrified sternum was present. Archaeopteryx,the dromaeosaurid Microraptor, oviraptorosaur Ingenia) (16–19). oldest and most basal known bird, is known from only 10 specimens Admittedly, the sternum is not one of the best-known skeletal and the presence of a sternum is controversial; a chondrified ster- elements in these clades; the presence of sternal plates is af- num is widely considered to have been present. -
Feathers Fly in Beijing
news meeting report Feathers fly in Beijing The question of whether birds evolved from dinosaurs arouses strong opinions. Rex Dalton reports on a scientific meeting that at times bore more resemblance to a political sparring match. hen ornithologists and palaeon- tologists rolled into Beijing earlier Wthis month for the fifth quadren- nial meeting of the Society of Avian Paleon- tology and Evolution, it seemed like a per- fect opportunity to try and resolve the long- running debate over whether birds evolved from dinosaurs. Northeast China has produced a wealth of bird and dinosaur fossils in recent years, Bone China: this skull and these have been used to explore the links of a feathered dinosaur, between the two groups. At the meeting, Caudipteryx zoui, is one Chinese scientists showed off some newly of the exciting new discovered specimens, which might help to fossils emerging from answer important evolutionary questions. northeast China. But by the close of the meeting, hosted by Beijing’s Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology evolutionary origin as the hair-like integu- Hutchinson, who studies at Berkeley with and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), the divi- mentary filaments seen on many dinosaur Kevin Padian, a leading proponent of the idea sions between those who believe birds fossils, he was accused by Storrs Olson, head that birds evolved from dinosaurs, presented evolved from dinosaurs and those who dis- of ornithology at the National Museum of data on hind-limb evolution. Hutchinson agree appeared greater than ever. Several Natural History in Washington DC, of engag- compares bones of fossils and existing species attendees were disappointed that progressive ing in “ideological mumbo jumbo”. -
Origins of Avian Flight – a New Perspective
Origins of avian flight – a new perspective Larry D. Martin Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Museum of Natural History and Biodiversity Research Center, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT - The discovery of a primitive bird-like dromaeosaur (Microraptor) with four functional wings vindicates Beebe’s suggestion that birds went through a tetrapteryx stage in the origin of flight. Flight originated from an arboreal glid- ing ancestor and Longisquama may be more central to understanding how this came about than previously supposed. Keywords: Dromaeosaur, Microraptor, Longisquama, birds, flight, Upper Triassic, Lower Cretaceous Les origines du vol avien – Perspectives nouvelles - La découverte d’un dromaeosaure semblable à un oiseau primitif (Microraptor) avec quatre ailes fonctionnelles justifie la suggestion de Beebe selon laquelle les oiseaux sont passés par un stade tetrapteryx dans l’origine du vol. Le vol est apparu chez un ancêtre arboricole planeur, et Longisquama est peut être plus important qu’on l’a supposé pour comprendre les modalités de cette transition. INTRODUCTION the stratigraphically older Deinonychus studied by Ostrom (1969). In this sense the fossil record did not provide an Much of the argument over flight origins revolves orderly progression from terrestrial “maniraptorians” to fly- around Archaeopteryx, the first bird to be recognized from ing birds. In fact, Archaeopteryx, a very typical bird in most the Mesozoic and still the oldest known bird. Archaeop- respects, is significantly older than any credible evidence for teryx displays a remarkable combination of avian and reptil- dromaeosaurs, the dinosaurs thought to be closest to birds. ian characters and has become the archetype of a “missing Functionally there are additional problems. -
The Origins of Birds
Sample Academic Reading Sentence Completion [Note: This is an extract from a Part 2 task about the evolution of birds and their ancestry.] The origins of birds The science of evolutionary relationships has undergone a major change in recent decades. It used to be the case that all the features of organisms were important in working out their family tree. But following the work of German entomologist Willi Hennig, many evolutionary scientists now believe that the only features which carry any useful information are the evolutionary ‘novelties’ shared between organisms. Mice, lizards and fish, for example, all have backbones – so the feature ‘backbone’ tells us nothing about their evolutionary relationship. But the feature ‘four legs’ is useful because it’s an evolutionary novelty – a characteristic shared only between the lizard and the mouse. This would suggest that the lizard and mouse are more closely related to each other than either is to the fish. This revolutionary approach is called cladistics, and it has been central to the idea that birds evolved from dinosaurs. The ‘birds are dinosaurs’ theory was first developed by English palaeontologist Thomas Huxley (1825–1895). According to some accounts, one evening Huxley went to dinner still thinking about a mystery dinosaur bone in his lab. He knew he was dealing with the lower leg bone (tibia) of a meat-eating, two-legged dinosaur belonging to the classification known as theropods, but attached to the tibia was an unidentified extra bone. On the menu that evening was quail, a small bird similar to a pheasant, and Huxley noticed the same strange bone, attached to the quail tibia on his plate. -
Homology and Evolution of the Deep Dorsal Thigh Musculature in Birds
JOURNAL OF MORPHOLOGY 189327-346 (1986) Homology and Evolution of the Deep Dorsal Thigh Musculature in Birds and Other Reptilia TIMOTHY ROWE Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78713 ABSTRACT Data from adult birds, crocodilians, Sphenodon, squamates, turtles, and from the chick embryo are compared to test conflicting hypotheses of homology of the deep dorsal thigh muscles of birds and other reptiles. This comparison suggests that: 1)avian Mm. iliofemoralis externus and iliotrochan- tericus caudalis (herein renamed “iliofemoralis cranialis”) are homologous with M. iliofemoralis of other reptiles; 2) avian Mm. iliotrochanterici cranialis and medius are homologous with one of two divisions of M. pubo-ischio-femo- ralis internus found in other reptiles (pars dorsalis of Crocodylia); 3) avian M. iliofemoralis internus (herein renamed “cuppedicus”) is homologous with the other division of M. pubo-ischio-femoralis internus (pars medialis of Crocody- lia). This hypothesis implies a minimum of seven transformations in the number of muscles and their positions of origin and insertion in the evolution of Aves, five of which are recapitulated during ontogeny of the chick. The traditional recognition of three muscles in the “iliotrochantericus group” is topographically accurate, but it is a misnomer and has been a source of misdirection when these muscles are studied in a phylagenetic context. Varia- tions within Aves in the presence of the iliotrochantericus muscles (cranialis or medius) and the iliofemoralis muscles (externus or cranialis) are results of heterochronic perturbations of a conserved developmental program. Unlike most previous interpretations, this view of homology suggests that the evolu- tion of avian bipedality was accompanied by few myological transformations, despite profound modification of the skeleton.