DOCSLIB.ORG

Exceptional Three-Dimensional Preservation and Coloration of an Originally Iridescent Fossil Feather from the Middle Eocene Messel Oil Shale

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Exceptional Three-Dimensional Preservation and Coloration of an Originally Iridescent Fossil Feather from the Middle Eocene Messel Oil Shale Exceptional three-dimensional preservation and coloration of an originally iridescent fossil feather from the Middle Eocene Messel Oil Shale Natasha S. Vitek, Jakob Vinther, James D. Schiffbauer, Derek E. G. Briggs & Richard O. Prum Paläontologische Zeitschrift Scientific Contributions to Palaeontology ISSN 0031-0220 Volume 87 Number 4 Paläontol Z (2013) 87:493-503 DOI 10.1007/s12542-013-0173-5 1 23 Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by Springer- Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. This e-offprint is for personal use only and shall not be self- archived in electronic repositories. If you wish to self-archive your article, please use the accepted manuscript version for posting on your own website. You may further deposit the accepted manuscript version in any repository, provided it is only made publicly available 12 months after official publication or later and provided acknowledgement is given to the original source of publication and a link is inserted to the published article on Springer's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The final publication is available at link.springer.com”. 1 23 Author's personal copy Pala¨ontol Z (2013) 87:493–503 DOI 10.1007/s12542-013-0173-5 RESEARCH PAPER Exceptional three-dimensional preservation and coloration of an originally iridescent fossil feather from the Middle Eocene Messel Oil Shale Natasha S. Vitek • Jakob Vinther • James D. Schiffbauer • Derek E. G. Briggs • Richard O. Prum Received: 3 September 2012 / Accepted: 12 February 2013 / Published online: 16 March 2013 Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013 Abstract A feather from the Eocene Messel Formation, generated by incoherent light diffraction between this Germany, has been demonstrated to have been originally sediment layer and melanosomes and, although related to structurally colored by densely packed sheets of melano- the original iridescence of the feather, is not a feature of the somes similar to modern iridescent feathers exhibiting thin- feather itself. The reddish and greenish hues frequently film diffraction. The fossil itself currently exhibits a silvery exhibited by fossil feathers from the Messel Formation sheen, but the mechanism for generating this optical effect appear to be due to precipitates on the surface of individual was not fully understood. Here we use scanning electron melanosomes. microscopy, electron probe microanalysis, and dual-beam focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy to inves- Keywords Exceptional preservation Á Color Á Melanin Á tigate the source of the silvery sheen that occurs in the Iridescence Á Fossil bird apical feather barbules. Focused ion beam scanning elec- tron microscopy provides a powerful tool for studying Kurzfassung Bei einer Feder aus der eoza¨nen Messel three-dimensionality of nanostructures in fossils. Use of the Formation von Deutschland wurde eine originale strukturelle method reveals that the flattened apical barbules are pre- Fa¨rbung aus dicht gepackten Melanosomen nachgewiesen, die served almost perfectly, including smooth structural mel- modernen irridisierenden Federn a¨hnlich ist, die Du¨nns- anosome sheets on the obverse surface of the fossil feather chichtdiffraktion zeigen. Das Fossil selbst zeigt in seinem that are identical to those that cause iridescence in modern derzeitigen Zustand einen silbrigen Glanz, aber es ist unklar, bird feathers. Most of each apical barbule is preserved durch welchen Mechanismus dieser entsteht. Mit Hilfe von beneath a thin layer of sediment. The silvery sheen is Rasterelektronenmikroskopie, Elektronenstrahlmikroanalyse N. S. Vitek (&) Á J. Vinther Á D. E. G. Briggs D. E. G. Briggs Á R. O. Prum Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, 210 Whitney Avenue, New Haven, CT 06520, USA 170 Whitney Avenue, New Haven, CT 06511, USA e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] N. S. Vitek Á J. Vinther R. O. Prum Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA Yale University, 21 Sachem Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA J. Vinther e-mail: [email protected] Department of Earth Sciences and Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UG, UK e-mail: [email protected] J. D. Schiffbauer Department of Geological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA e-mail: [email protected] 123 Author's personal copy 494 N. S. Vitek et al. und doppelt fokussierter Ionenfeinstrahlmikroskopie untersu- presence of iron in different oxidation states. The silvery chen wir die Herkunft der gla¨nzenden Fa¨rbung, die an den sheen was hypothesized to be a direct result of the apikalen Hakenstrahlen auftritt. Ionenfeinstrahlmikroskopie arrangement of the fossil’s originally iridescent melano- stellt eine leistungsfa¨hige Methode zur Untersuchung dreidi- some sheets. The latter hypothesis was based on the spatial mensionaler Nanostrukturen in Fossilien dar. Ergebnisse dieser correlation between the sheets and the silvery sheen in the Untersuchungsmethode zeigen, dass sowohl die abgeflachten, barbules of the distal part of the feather vane. In this case, apikalen Hakenstrahlen, als auch die einzelnen Schichten aus such a silvery sheen would provide an easily detectable Strukturmelanosomen, die mit denen heutiger Vogelfedern indication of iridescence in other fossil birds and in nahezu identisch sind, anna¨hernd unversehrt u¨berliefert sind. feathered dinosaurs. Ein Großteil der apikalen Hakenstrahlen ist unter einer du¨nnen Melanosomes are known to absorb metal ions in other Sedimentschicht erhalten, die aufgrund der Interferenz mit den contexts. Melanin granules in the squid Sepia have been Melanosomenzudemsilbergla¨nzenden Farbeffekt fu¨hrt. shown to absorb metals such as iron, calcium, and mag- Dieser Effekt wird durch die irridisierende Fa¨rbung der Feder nesium without alteration of the melanosome macrostruc- versta¨rkt, trat allerdings nicht im Originalzustand auf. Dies ture (Liu et al. 2004). Extant birds may accumulate metals deutet darauf hin, dass die ro¨tliche und gru¨nliche Fa¨rbung, die such as calcium, zinc, copper, iron, and magnesium in their typisch fu¨r Federn aus Messel ist, aufgrund von Ablagerungen feather melanin (Niecke et al. 1999; McGraw 2008). Those auf der Oberfla¨che der einzelnen Melanosome zustande metals are released in reducing conditions (Liu et al. 2004), kommt. and presumably also during diagenesis, with the removal of hydroxyl (–OH) and carboxyl (–COOH) functional groups Schlu¨sselwo¨rter Außergewo¨hnliche Erhaltung Á that chelated the metals in the macromolecule (Riley Farberhaltung Á Melanin Á Iridisieren Á Fossile Vo¨gel 1997). Here we investigate the mechanism giving rise to the silvery sheen in the Messel feather and test the hypothesis Introduction that the red hue is the result of diagenetic precipitation of metal ions, likely sourced from the melanosomes (Vinther Distinct arrangements and morphologies of melanosomes et al. 2010). Investigating the mechanism of color pro- can generate structural coloration and metallic iridescence duction in the fossil, and any correlation between the in modern bird feathers by creating coherently scattered preserved color and that of the original feather, requires a light (Prum 2006). Melanin is highly decay resistant and clear understanding of which components of the fossil can survive with little alteration in fossils at least as old as remain on the part and counterpart when the shale is split. the Jurassic (Glass et al. 2012). Many fossil feathers are Furthermore, as compared with modern feathers, only the preserved as remains of melanosomes, which are melanin- highly melanized components of the fossil feather are containing organelles (Vinther et al. 2008, 2010; Zhang likely to survive decay (Goldstein et al. 2004). The et al. 2010). Additionally, melanosome shape and distri- appearance of the fossil may be affected by both the bution offer a means of inferring ancient coloration and associated sediment matrix and the loss of the nonmelan- color patterns (Li et al. 2010, 2012; Clarke et al. 2010). ized feather parts. Fossil feathers may preserve smooth sheets of melano- somes in arrangements similar to those that generate iri- descence in modern birds (Vinther et al. 2010). The Methods iridescent sheens in such feathers are created by so-called thin-film diffraction of a smooth layer of keratin above an We investigated the Messel feather fossil SMF ME 3850 equally smooth melanosome surface (Shawkey et al. using a dual-beam focused ion beam scanning electron 2006). The fossil feather examined here, from the Senc- microscope (FIB-SEM) to image surface topography kenberg Museum Frankfurt, SMF ME 3850, was collected and concurrently ion-mill site-specific cross-sections from the famous Eocene Messel locality (*47 Ma) in (Schiffbauer and Xiao 2009, 2011) in order to document Germany. It exhibits a conspicuous red hue that alternates the three-dimensional nature of the exceptional preserva- in places with stripes of a silvery sheen in the barbules of tion and elucidate the origin of the silvery sheen. We used the apical region (Fig. 1). Initially, the red hue was inter- FIB-SEM analysis and electron probe microanalysis preted as an effect of the absorption of metal ions onto the (EPMA) to determine the chemical composition of the surface of the eumelanosomes, which are rod-shaped and feather and surrounding sediment, and to investigate the originally produce black and gray colors (Vinther et al. origin of the reddish and greenish hues exhibited by some 2010). The fossil feathers in Messel vary from black to fossil feathers from the Messel Formation (Vinther et al. reddish and greenish in hue, which may indicate the 2010, suppl. Figs. 1 and 2). 123 Author's personal copy Eocene Messel Oil Shale 495 Fig. 1 Color photo of fossil SMF ME 3850 (main slab) showing the Inset shows a detail of the apical barbs shown in Figs. 1d and 4. FIB- locations of each FIB-SEM cross-section. Labeled boxes correspond SEM cuts are marked in blue. Arrows indicate the direction of view.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • JVP 26(3) September 2006—ABSTRACTS
    Neoceti Symposium, Saturday 8:45 acid-prepared osteolepiforms Medoevia and Gogonasus has offered strong support for BODY SIZE AND CRYPTIC TROPHIC SEPARATION OF GENERALIZED Jarvik’s interpretation, but Eusthenopteron itself has not been reexamined in detail. PIERCE-FEEDING CETACEANS: THE ROLE OF FEEDING DIVERSITY DUR- Uncertainty has persisted about the relationship between the large endoskeletal “fenestra ING THE RISE OF THE NEOCETI endochoanalis” and the apparently much smaller choana, and about the occlusion of upper ADAM, Peter, Univ. of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA; JETT, Kristin, Univ. of and lower jaw fangs relative to the choana. California, Davis, Davis, CA; OLSON, Joshua, Univ. of California, Los Angeles, Los A CT scan investigation of a large skull of Eusthenopteron, carried out in collaboration Angeles, CA with University of Texas and Parc de Miguasha, offers an opportunity to image and digital- Marine mammals with homodont dentition and relatively little specialization of the feeding ly “dissect” a complete three-dimensional snout region. We find that a choana is indeed apparatus are often categorized as generalist eaters of squid and fish. However, analyses of present, somewhat narrower but otherwise similar to that described by Jarvik. It does not many modern ecosystems reveal the importance of body size in determining trophic parti- receive the anterior coronoid fang, which bites mesial to the edge of the dermopalatine and tioning and diversity among predators. We established relationships between body sizes of is received by a pit in that bone. The fenestra endochoanalis is partly floored by the vomer extant cetaceans and their prey in order to infer prey size and potential trophic separation of and the dermopalatine, restricting the choana to the lateral part of the fenestra.
    [Show full text]
  • Of Vertebrate Fossils from the Middle Eocene Oil Shale of Messel, Germany: Implications for Their Taphonomy and Palaeoenvironment
    Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 416 (2014) 92–109 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/palaeo Isotope compositions (C, O, Sr, Nd) of vertebrate fossils from the Middle Eocene oil shale of Messel, Germany: Implications for their taphonomy and palaeoenvironment Thomas Tütken ⁎ Steinmann-Institut für Geologie, Mineralogie und Paläontologie, Universität Bonn, Poppelsdorfer Schloss, 53115 Bonn, Germany article info abstract Article history: The Middle Eocene oil shale deposits of Messel are famous for their exceptionally well-preserved, articulated 47- Received 15 April 2014 Myr-old vertebrate fossils that often still display soft tissue preservation. The isotopic compositions (O, C, Sr, Nd) Received in revised form 30 July 2014 were analysed from skeletal remains of Messel's terrestrial and aquatic vertebrates to determine the condition of Accepted 5 August 2014 geochemical preservation. Authigenic phosphate minerals and siderite were also analysed to characterise the iso- Available online 17 August 2014 tope compositions of diagenetic phases. In Messel, diagenetic end member values of the volcanically-influenced 12 Keywords: and (due to methanogenesis) C-depleted anoxic bottom water of the meromictic Eocene maar lake are isoto- Strontium isotopes pically very distinct from in vivo bioapatite values of terrestrial vertebrates. This unique taphonomic setting al- Oxygen isotopes lows the assessment of the geochemical preservation of the vertebrate fossils. A combined multi-isotope Diagenesis approach demonstrates that enamel of fossil vertebrates from Messel is geochemically exceptionally well- Enamel preserved and still contains near-in vivo C, O, Sr and possibly even Nd isotope compositions while bone and den- Messel tine are diagenetically altered.
    [Show full text]
  • The World at the Time of Messel: Conference Volume
    T. Lehmann & S.F.K. Schaal (eds) The World at the Time of Messel - Conference Volume Time at the The World The World at the Time of Messel: Puzzles in Palaeobiology, Palaeoenvironment and the History of Early Primates 22nd International Senckenberg Conference 2011 Frankfurt am Main, 15th - 19th November 2011 ISBN 978-3-929907-86-5 Conference Volume SENCKENBERG Gesellschaft für Naturforschung THOMAS LEHMANN & STEPHAN F.K. SCHAAL (eds) The World at the Time of Messel: Puzzles in Palaeobiology, Palaeoenvironment, and the History of Early Primates 22nd International Senckenberg Conference Frankfurt am Main, 15th – 19th November 2011 Conference Volume Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung IMPRINT The World at the Time of Messel: Puzzles in Palaeobiology, Palaeoenvironment, and the History of Early Primates 22nd International Senckenberg Conference 15th – 19th November 2011, Frankfurt am Main, Germany Conference Volume Publisher PROF. DR. DR. H.C. VOLKER MOSBRUGGER Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany Editors DR. THOMAS LEHMANN & DR. STEPHAN F.K. SCHAAL Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany [email protected]; [email protected] Language editors JOSEPH E.B. HOGAN & DR. KRISTER T. SMITH Layout JULIANE EBERHARDT & ANIKA VOGEL Cover Illustration EVELINE JUNQUEIRA Print Rhein-Main-Geschäftsdrucke, Hofheim-Wallau, Germany Citation LEHMANN, T. & SCHAAL, S.F.K. (eds) (2011). The World at the Time of Messel: Puzzles in Palaeobiology, Palaeoenvironment, and the History of Early Primates. 22nd International Senckenberg Conference. 15th – 19th November 2011, Frankfurt am Main. Conference Volume. Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Frankfurt am Main. pp. 203.
    [Show full text]
  • Arachnida: Araneae) from the Middle Eocene Messel Maar, Germany
    Palaeoentomology 002 (6): 596–601 ISSN 2624-2826 (print edition) https://www.mapress.com/j/pe/ Short PALAEOENTOMOLOGY Copyright © 2019 Magnolia Press Communication ISSN 2624-2834 (online edition) PE https://doi.org/10.11646/palaeoentomology.2.6.10 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:E7F92F14-A680-4D30-8CF5-2B27C5AED0AB A new spider (Arachnida: Araneae) from the Middle Eocene Messel Maar, Germany PAUL A. SELDEN1, 2, * & torsten wappler3 1Department of Geology, University of Kansas, 1475 Jayhawk Boulevard, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA. 2Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK. 3Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt, Friedensplatz 1, 64283 Darmstadt, Germany. *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] The Fossil-Lagerstätte of Grube Messel, Germany, has Thomisidae and Salticidae (Schawaller & Ono, 1979; produced some of the most spectacular fossils of the Wunderlich, 1986). The Pliocene lake of Willershausen, Paleogene (Schaal & Ziegler, 1992; Gruber & Micklich, produced by solution of evaporites and subsequent collapse, 2007; Selden & Nudds, 2012; Schaal et al., 2018). However, has produced some remarkably preserved arthropod fossils few arachnids have been discovered or described from this (Briggs et al., 1998), including numerous spider families: World Heritage Site. An araneid spider was reported by Dysderidae, Lycosidae, Thomisidae and Salticidae (Straus, Wunderlich (1986). Wedmann (2018) reported that 160 1967; Schawaller, 1982). All of these localities are much spider specimens were known from Messel although, sadly, younger than Messel. few are well preserved. She figured the araneid mentioned by Wunderlich (1986) and a nicely preserved hersiliid (Wedmann, 2018: figs 7.8–7.9, respectively). Wedmann Material and methods (2018) mentioned six opilionids yet to be described, and figured one (Wedmann, 2018: fig.
    [Show full text]
  • Sedimentation of the Lower Cretaceous Xiagou Formation and Its Response to Regional Tectonics in the Qingxi Sag, Jiuquan Basin, NW China
    Cretaceous Research 47 (2014) 72e86 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Cretaceous Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/CretRes Sedimentation of the Lower Cretaceous Xiagou Formation and its response to regional tectonics in the Qingxi Sag, Jiuquan Basin, NW China Si Chen a,b, Hua Wang a,*, Jun Wei c, Zhenyu Lv d, Huajun Gan a, Siding Jin a a Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources, MOE, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China b Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, 78712, USA c PetroChina Yumen Oilfield Company, Yumen 735200, China d Tianjin Branch of CNOOC Ltd., Tianjin 300452, China article info abstract Article history: Under the constraint of an isochronous sequence stratigraphic framework, sediment infill of the Xiagou Received 24 May 2013 Formation reflects the overall control of dynamic tectonic movements and episodic sedimentations in Accepted in revised form 11 November 2013 the Qingxi Sag. Structure reactivity during post-depositional processes could cause stratigraphic varia- Available online 11 December 2013 tions in longitudinal time and lateral space. This study documents sediment infill features and their response to the tectonic evolutions of the Qingxi Sag. The data sets include comparison of cores, well Keywords: drilling, 3D seismic, inter-well correlation, wave impedance inversion profiles, original strata recovery Jiuquan Basin data, sedimentary facies spatial evolution and their superimposition with paleogeomorphology. Qingxi Sag Xiagou Formation The Jiuquan Basin is a Mesozoic-Cenozoic superposition basin comprising an early rifting graben phase Sediment infill and a later compression phase. Since the Early Cretaceous, the basin has undergone four major tectonic Tectonic evolution episodes: 1) extension during the Early Cretaceous, 2) tectonic inversion caused by northwest-southeast contraction from the Late Cretaceous to the Paleocene, 3) weak extension from the Eocene to the Miocene and 4) contraction from the Miocene to the present.
    [Show full text]
  • Appendix A. Supplementary Material
    Appendix A. Supplementary material Comprehensive taxon sampling and vetted fossils help clarify the time tree of shorebirds (Aves, Charadriiformes) David Cernˇ y´ 1,* & Rossy Natale2 1Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago 60637, USA 2Department of Organismal Biology & Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago 60637, USA *Corresponding Author. Email: [email protected] Contents 1 Fossil Calibrations 2 1.1 Calibrations used . .2 1.2 Rejected calibrations . 22 2 Outgroup sequences 30 2.1 Neornithine outgroups . 33 2.2 Non-neornithine outgroups . 39 3 Supplementary Methods 72 4 Supplementary Figures and Tables 74 5 Image Credits 91 References 99 1 1 Fossil Calibrations 1.1 Calibrations used Calibration 1 Node calibrated. MRCA of Uria aalge and Uria lomvia. Fossil taxon. Uria lomvia (Linnaeus, 1758). Specimen. CASG 71892 (referred specimen; Olson, 2013), California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, CA, USA. Lower bound. 2.58 Ma. Phylogenetic justification. As in Smith (2015). Age justification. The status of CASG 71892 as the oldest known record of either of the two spp. of Uria was recently confirmed by the review of Watanabe et al. (2016). The younger of the two marine transgressions at the Tolstoi Point corresponds to the Bigbendian transgression (Olson, 2013), which contains the Gauss-Matuyama magnetostratigraphic boundary (Kaufman and Brigham-Grette, 1993). Attempts to date this reversal have been recently reviewed by Ohno et al. (2012); Singer (2014), and Head (2019). In particular, Deino et al. (2006) were able to tightly bracket the age of the reversal using high-precision 40Ar/39Ar dating of two tuffs in normally and reversely magnetized lacustrine sediments from Kenya, obtaining a value of 2.589 ± 0.003 Ma.
    [Show full text]
  • Aptian-Albian Clumped Isotopes from Northwest China: Cool Temperatures, Variable Atmospheric Pco2 and Regional Shifts in Hydrologic Cycle Dustin T
    https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2020-152 Preprint. Discussion started: 21 December 2020 c Author(s) 2020. CC BY 4.0 License. Aptian-Albian clumped isotopes from northwest China: Cool temperatures, variable atmospheric pCO2 and regional shifts in hydrologic cycle Dustin T. Harper1, Marina B. Suarez1,2, Jessica Uglesich2, Hailu You3,4,5, Daqing Li6, Peter Dodson7 5 1 Department of Geology, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, U.S.A. 2 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas, San Antonio, TX, U.S.A. 3 Key LaBoratory of VerteBrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of VerteBrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P.R.C. 10 4 Chinese Academy of Science Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, P.R.C. 5 College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P.R.C. 6 Institute of VerteBrate Paleontology and College of Life Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, P.R.C. 7 Department of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, U.S.A. 15 Correspondence to: Dustin T. Harper ([email protected]) Abstract. The Early Cretaceous is characterized by warm background temperatures (i.e., greenhouse climate) and carbon cycle perturbations that are often marked by Ocean Anoxic Events (OAEs) and associated shifts in the hydrologic cycle. Higher-resolution records of terrestrial and marine δ13C and δ18O (Both carBonates and organics) suggest climate shifts 20 during the Aptian-AlBian, including a warm period associated with OAE 1a in the early Aptian and subsequent “cold snap” near the Aptian-AlBian Boundary prior to the Kilian and OAE 1B.
    [Show full text]
  • Micro CT Scanning of a New Specimen of the Zygodactylidae (Aves) from the Early Eocene of Messel, Germany
    Master Thesis, Department of Geosciences Micro CT scanning of a new specimen of the Zygodactylidae (Aves) from the Early Eocene of Messel, Germany Christian Haugen Svendsen Micro CT scanning of a new specimen of the Zygodactylidae (Aves) from the early Eocene of Messel, Germany Christian Haugen Svendsen Master Thesis in Geosciences Discipline: Palaeontology Department of Geosciences and Natural History museum, Oslo Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences University of Oslo September 2015 © Christian Haugen Svendsen, 2015 This work is published digitally through DUO – Digitale Utgivelser ved UiO http://www.duo.uio.no It is also catalogued in BIBSYS (http://www.bibsys.no/english) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission. Acknowledgement I want to thank and dedicate this work to my aunt Rita. Thanks for taking me to the Natural History Museum in Oslo when I was just a small kid. You helped me to get a general interest in the Evolution of life, and how complex we are, and this gave a 7 year old boy a dream. A dream to become a Palaeontologist! First and foremost I would like to thank my two excellent supervisors, Jørn Hurum and Gerald Mayr. Thanks for helping me whenever I had questions and for your suggestions on the thesis. Your patience, readiness and excellent guidance were crucial for this thesis. Special thanks to Gerald for meeting me in Frankfurt on my trip there, and showing me the collection at the Senckenberg museum. I want to thank the Senckenberg museum in Frankfurt for letting me examine the bird fossils from their records for my thesis.
    [Show full text]
  • Fossil Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): Ancient Diversity and the Rise of Modern Lineages
    Myrmecological News 24 1-30 Vienna, March 2017 Fossil ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): ancient diversity and the rise of modern lineages Phillip BARDEN Abstract The ant fossil record is summarized with special reference to the earliest ants, first occurrences of modern lineages, and the utility of paleontological data in reconstructing evolutionary history. During the Cretaceous, from approximately 100 to 78 million years ago, only two species are definitively assignable to extant subfamilies – all putative crown group ants from this period are discussed. Among the earliest ants known are unexpectedly diverse and highly social stem- group lineages, however these stem ants do not persist into the Cenozoic. Following the Cretaceous-Paleogene boun- dary, all well preserved ants are assignable to crown Formicidae; the appearance of crown ants in the fossil record is summarized at the subfamilial and generic level. Generally, the taxonomic composition of Cenozoic ant fossil communi- ties mirrors Recent ecosystems with the "big four" subfamilies Dolichoderinae, Formicinae, Myrmicinae, and Ponerinae comprising most faunal abundance. As reviewed by other authors, ants increase in abundance dramatically from the Eocene through the Miocene. Proximate drivers relating to the "rise of the ants" are discussed, as the majority of this increase is due to a handful of highly dominant species. In addition, instances of congruence and conflict with molecular- based divergence estimates are noted, and distinct "ghost" lineages are interpreted. The ant fossil record is a valuable resource comparable to other groups with extensive fossil species: There are approximately as many described fossil ant species as there are fossil dinosaurs. The incorporation of paleontological data into neontological inquiries can only seek to improve the accuracy and scale of generated hypotheses.
    [Show full text]
  • Testing for the Effects and Consequences of Mid Paleogene Climate Change on Insect Herbivory
    Testing for the Effects and Consequences of Mid Paleogene Climate Change on Insect Herbivory Torsten Wappler1*, Conrad C. Labandeira2,3, Jes Rust1, Herbert Frankenha¨user4, Volker Wilde5 1 Steinmann Institute, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany, 2 Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America, 3 Department of Entomology and BEES Program, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States of America, 4 Mainz Natural History Museum/State Collection for Natural History of Rhineland-Palatine, Mainz, Germany, 5 Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum, Pala¨obotanik, Frankfurt am Main, Germany Abstract Background: The Eocene, a time of fluctuating environmental change and biome evolution, was generally driven by exceptionally warm temperatures. The Messel (47.8 Ma) and Eckfeld (44.3 Ma) deposits offer a rare opportunity to take a census of two, deep-time ecosystems occurring during a greenhouse system. An understanding of the long-term consequences of extreme warming and cooling events during this interval, particularly on angiosperms and insects that dominate terrestrial biodiversity, can provide insights into the biotic consequences of current global climatic warming. Methodology/Principal Findings: We compare insect-feeding damage within two middle Eocene fossil floras, Messel and Eckfeld, in Germany. From these small lake deposits, we studied 16,082 angiosperm leaves and scored each specimen for the presence or absence of 89 distinctive and diagnosable insect damage types (DTs), each of which was allocated to a major functional feeding group, including four varieties of external foliage feeding, piercing- and-sucking, leaf mining, galling, seed predation, and oviposition. Methods used for treatment of presence–absence data included general linear models and standard univariate, bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques.
    [Show full text]
  • Anatomy of the Early Cretaceous Enantiornithine Bird Rapaxavis Pani
    Anatomy of the Early Cretaceous enantiornithine bird Rapaxavis pani JINGMAI K. O’CONNOR, LUIS M. CHIAPPE, CHUNLING GAO, and BO ZHAO O’Connor, J.K., Chiappe, L.M., Gao, C., and Zhao, B. 2011. Anatomy of the Early Cretaceous enantiornithine bird Rapaxavis pani. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 56 (3): 463–475. The exquisitely preserved longipterygid enantiornithine Rapaxavis pani is redescribed here after more extensive prepara− tion. A complete review of its morphology is presented based on information gathered before and after preparation. Among other features, Rapaxavis pani is characterized by having an elongate rostrum (close to 60% of the skull length), rostrally restricted dentition, and schizorhinal external nares. Yet, the most puzzling feature of this bird is the presence of a pair of pectoral bones (here termed paracoracoidal ossifications) that, with the exception of the enantiornithine Concornis lacustris, are unknown within Aves. Particularly notable is the presence of a distal tarsal cap, formed by the fu− sion of distal tarsal elements, a feature that is controversial in non−ornithuromorph birds. The holotype and only known specimen of Rapaxavis pani thus reveals important information for better understanding the anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of longipterygids, in particular, as well as basal birds as a whole. Key words: Aves, Enantiornithes, Longipterygidae, Rapaxavis, Jiufotang Formation, Early Cretaceous, China. Jingmai K. O’Connor [[email protected]], Laboratory of Evolutionary Systematics of Vertebrates, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, 142 Xizhimenwaidajie, Beijing, China, 100044; The Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007 USA; Luis M. Chiappe [[email protected]], The Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Ex− position Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007 USA; Chunling Gao [[email protected]] and Bo Zhao [[email protected]], Dalian Natural History Museum, No.
    [Show full text]
  • Foot Scales in the Early Cretaceous Bird Gansus Yumenensis from China
    bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.07.447457; this version posted June 8, 2021. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. 1 Foot scales in the Early Cretaceous bird Gansus yumenensis from China 2 3 Tao Zhao1, Zhiheng Li2,3, He Zhang1 Yanhong Pan1 4 5 1State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and 6 Engineering, Centre for Research and Education on Biological Evolution and 7 Environment and Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling, 8 Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China 9 2Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of 10 Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese 11 Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China 12 3CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing 100044, China 13 14 15 16 Corresponding authors: 17 Tao Zhao, [email protected] 18 Yanhong Pan, [email protected] 19 20 21 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.07.447457; this version posted June 8, 2021. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. 22 Abstract 23 24 Most modern birds have scales covering the foot and feathers elsewhere. Discoveries 25 of fossil feathers attached to the metatarsus in non-avian dinosaurs and basal birds 26 suggests that the avian scales are secondarily derived from feathers. However, our 27 knowledge of early avian scales and their taphonomy is still limited, due to the 28 scarcity of fossil record.
    [Show full text]