DOCSLIB.ORG

A Loon Leg (Aves, Gaviidae) with Crocodilian Tooth from the Late Oligocene of Germany

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Loon Leg (Aves, Gaviidae) with Crocodilian Tooth from the Late Oligocene of Germany A Loon Leg (Aves, Gaviidae) with Crocodilian Tooth from the Late Oligocene of Germany GERALD MAYR1* AND MARKUS POSCHMANN2 1Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Sektion Ornithologie, Senckenberganlage 25, D-60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany 2Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe RLP, Direktion Landesarchäologie, Referat Erdgeschichte, Große Langgasse 29, D-55116 Mainz, Germany *Corresponding author; E-mail: [email protected] Abstract.—The first late Oligocene fossil record of a loon (Gaviiformes) is described from the lacustrine depos- its of the German locality Enspel. The specimen is an isolated foot, which is associated with a crocodilian tooth. The fossil belongs to a species about half the size of the smallest extant loon, and is morphologically most similar to the Paleogene taxon Colymboides. In all probability it constitutes the prey remains of a crocodilian, which is of particular significance because the distribution ranges of loons and crocodilians hardly overlap today. The Enspel palaeocli- mate was warm-temperate and subtropical, and the Enspel specimen and other Paleogene fossils of gaviiform birds raise the, as yet, unanswered question of why loons largely disappeared from inland habitats of the warmer regions. Received 22 July 2008, accepted 30 December 2008. Key words.—Colymboides, crocodilian tooth, fossil waterbirds, Gaviiformes, palaeoecology. Waterbirds 32(3): 468-471, 2009 In recent years, the Enspel fossil site anglicus Lydekker, 1891 from late Eocene (Westerwald, Germany) has yielded several lacustrine deposits of England is represent- birds of late Oligocene age (MP 28, i.e. 24.7 ed by a coracoid (the holotype), and a re- million years ago; Mertz et al. 2007). The fos- ferred humerus and frontal portion of the siliferous sediments originated in a small skull (Harrison and Walker 1976). The mate- maar lake, and the avian remains described rial assigned to C. belgicus Mayr and Smith, so far belong to a cormorant-like and a galli- 2002, from an early Oligocene lacustrine fos- form bird (Mayr 2001, 2007; Mayr et al. sil site in Belgium, consists of a proximal car- 2006). Here we report a new bird fossil from pometacarpus and a distal ulna (Mayr and this locality, which can be assigned to the Smith 2002). Only Colymboides metzleri Mayr, Gaviiformes (loons). 2004, which has been found in an early Oli- The four extant species of loons breed on gocene marine locality in southern Germa- northern freshwater lakes in the subantarc- ny, is known by a partial, albeit strongly disso- tic and boreal zones, but winter along sea ciated skeleton (Mayr 2004). coasts or on large lakes in temperate areas Most early Neogene loons were assigned (Carboneras 1992). Putative loons are to Colymboides minutus Milne-Edwards, 1867, known from late Cretaceous marine locali- which has been reported from the early Mi- ties of Chile and Antarctica, but their identi- ocene of France and the Czech Republic fication needs to be bolstered with addition- (Mlíkovsky 2002). From the early Miocene of al material (Olson 1992; Chatterjee 2002). the Czech Republic, a putative representa- Paleogene, i.e. early Cenozoic, loons were tive of the extant taxon Gavia was described found in fossil sites of both marine and lim- as G. egeriana by Svecˇ (1982). nic origin, but the fossils are still scarce (Mayr 2009). With the exception of the DESCRIPTION North American species Gaviella pusilla (Shufeldt 1915), whose holotype is a proxi- The specimen described in the present mal carpometacarpus of unknown, possibly note (Fig. 1) is a right foot with the collec- Oligocene (Wetmore 1940), age, all remains tion number PW 2007/5157-LS, which is de- stem from European deposits. Colymboides posited in the Generaldirektion Kulturelles 468 LATE OLIGOCENE LOON 469 Figure 1. Right foot of a loon from the late Oligocene of Enspel in Germany (Generaldirektion Kulturelles Erbe RLP, Mainz, Germany, PW 2007/5157-LS). Abbreviations: croc – crocodilian tooth; mt 2 – tarsometatarsal trochlea for second toe; peb – pebble; phal – isolated pedal phalange. Specimen coated with magnesium oxide. Erbe RLP, Direktion Landesarchäologie, Re- sponds to the tarsometatarsus of these two ferat Erdgeschichte, Mainz, Germany, and species, whereas that of the extant taxon Ga- will later be transferred to the Landessam- via is proportionally more elongated and mlung für Naturkunde Rheinland-Pfalz, more mediolaterally compressed. Even the Mainz. The fossil stems from a short-legged smallest extant loon, the Red-throated Diver diving bird with a mediolaterally compressed (Gavia stellata) is almost twice as large as the tarsometatarsus and a plantarly deflected fossil species, with the mean tarsometatarsus trochlea for the second toe. In these features length, based on measurements of ten indi- and in overall morphology, the tarsometatar- viduals, being 72.6 ± 3.3 mm. As in other Gavi- sus corresponds to that of the Gaviiformes iformes, there is a bulge on the medial sur- and Podicipediformes (grebes). In contrast face of the trochlea for the third toe. to grebes, which have no Paleogene fossil In the new specimen, pedal phalanges of record in Europe (Mayr 2005), the distal ar- a fossil loon are for the first time preserved ticulation surfaces of the trochleae for the in articulation (note, the tarsometatarsus is second and third toes bear distinct sulci. The rotated from its life position, so that the tarsometatarsi of some procellariiform birds fourth toe lies next to the tarsometatarsal are also mediolaterally compressed with a trochlea for the second toe). Morphological- plantarly deflected trochlea for the second ly, they match the corresponding phalanges toe, but are less stout and proportionally of extant loons. The second toe is completely more elongated. preserved, and as in extant loons its proxi- The preserved length of the tarsometatar- mal phalanx is the longest of all phalanges, sus is 37.7 mm. The proximal end is broken, whereas in most other birds it is the proximal and the total length is estimated at 41.6 mm. phalanx of the third toe, which exceeds the The bone is thus larger than the tarsometatar- others in length. The ungual phalanx of the sus of C. metzleri, which has a length of 34.5 second toe also resembles that of extant mm (Mayr 2004), and that of C. minutus, Gaviiformes and is not greatly widened as in which measures 30.7-33.0 mm (Cheneval grebes and their sister taxon, the Phoenicop- 1984). Morphologically, however, it corre- teriformes (flamingos) (Manegold 2006). 470 WATERBIRDS DISCUSSION gareda et al. 1989; Tucker et al. 1996; Schweiz- er et al. 2006). The association of a crocodil- The Enspel loon is the first late Oli- ian tooth with a loon leg is, however, remark- gocene fossil record of the Gaviiformes and able, because the extant distribution ranges fills a temporal gap between the known Pa- of loons and crocodilians only overlap in the leogene and early Neogene specimens of southern parts of North America and China. this taxon. The preservation of the fossil In these areas loons are usually found on the does not allow an unambiguous taxonomic sea, whereas crocodilians are restricted to identification beyond the “family”-level, but freshwater sites. The chance that an extant in overall morphology it is clearly more sim- loon is attacked by a crocodilian is thus min- ilar to the Paleogene taxon Colymboides than imal at best, and the fossil is a vivid example to extant loons. for the profound differences between late The new specimen is of particular inter- Oligocene and extant ecosystems in Central est, because it is preserved together with a Europe. The specimen further places a cave- small crocodilian tooth, probably of the alli- at on ecological interpretations based on gatorid Diplocynodon. Both isolated crocodil- comparisons with the closest extant relatives ian teeth and bird remains are rare in the of fossil taxa, because, taken separately, the Enspel fossil site, and it is very unlikely that crocodilian, an indicator of a warm climate, placement of the tooth right above or below and the loon, whose extant relatives are den- the loon leg is coincidental. A random asso- izens of the subantarctic zones, would have ciation caused by bottom currents is consid- led to very different conclusions concerning ered unlikely as well, because in this case the the paleoenvironment of the fossil locality. fossils are expected to rather show a lateral Clearly, the Enspel palaeoclimate was warm- accretion. Furthermore, insect taphonomy temperate and subtropical based on analyses studies suggest that there were hardly any wa- of both plant (Köhler 1997; Herrmann ter movements at the bottom of Enspel Lake 2007) and insect (Wedmann 2000) taphoc- (Wedmann 1998). In crocodilians the roots oenoses, and future studies will have to iden- of the teeth are reduced before they are shed tify the factors which led to the retreat of (Njau and Blumenschine 2006). Because the loons from extant inland habitats of the tooth associated with the Enspel loon has a warmer regions. reduced root, we assume that it fell out dur- ing feeding shortly before it would have ACKNOWLEDGMENTS been naturally lost, which is not an unusual event (Hertner 2006). Dismemberment of We thank M. Wuttke (GDKE RLP, Mainz) for allow- ing access to material in his care, and R. W. Elner and the carcass into pieces that could be swal- two anonymous referees for comments on the manu- lowed is often achieved by vigorous shaking script. of the prey item (Franzen and Frey 1993; Njau and Blumenschine 2006). In the course LITERATURE CITED of this action, the loon leg may have become detached and sunk to the inhospitable lake Carboneras, C. 1992. Family Gaviidae (Divers). Pages 162-172 in Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 1 bottom, where it was embedded in the sedi- (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott and J. Sargatal, Eds.). Lynx Edi- ment together with the tooth sticking in the cions, Barcelona.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 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]
  • Avian Premaxilla and Tarsometatarsus from The
    762 ShortCommunications andCommentaries [Auk,Vol. 112 The Auk 112(3):762-767, 1995 Avian Premaxilla and Tarsometatarsusfrom the Uppermost Cretaceous of Montana ANDRZEJ ELZANOWSKIa AND MICHAEL K. BRETT-$URMAN2 •Departmentof VertebrateZoology, National Museum of NaturalHistory, SmithsonianInstitution, Washington, D.C. 20560, USA; and 2Departmentof Geology,George Washington University, Washington, D.C. 20052,USA Despitea variety of fragmentary,apparently neog- is rounded and smooth,and the sidesare very steep. nathousavian fossilsknown from the uppermostCre- The largest among the neurovascularforamina scat- taceousdeposits (Brodkorb 1963, Olson 1985, Olson tered on each side are two elongatedorsal foramina: and Parris 1987),we still lack even an approximate the vessel from the rostral one coursed rostrad, whereas idea of how many neognathouslineages survived be- the vesselfrom the caudalone apparentlybifurcated yond the Cretaceous/Tertiaryboundary. Most of the into a smaller rostral and a larger caudal branch. In Maastrichtian avian bones reveal a charadriiform or addition, a number of smaller openingsperforates transitional charadriiform-gruiform morphology, eachside of the symphysis. which may be plesiomorphicfor most (Olson 1985) The ventral surfaceof the premaxillarysymphysis but probably not all of the neognaths(Elzanowski is strongly concave(Fig. lc, d). There are no distinct 1995). Other than that, there is some fossil evidence neurovascularforamina on the ventral (palatal) sur- for the existence of loons in the Cretaceous(Olson face,with the possibleexception of one small opening 1992)and mostly indirect evidencefor the pre-Ter- on the left side. The palatal shelvesof the premaxilla tiary origins of the relict pelecaniforms(Phaethon- begin from the symphysialtip and graduallybroaden tidae and Fregatidae) and procellariiforms (Elza- caudally where each of them occupiesone-third of nowski and Gaiton 1991).
    [Show full text]
  • From the Middle Miocene of Austria 331- 339 ©Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Download Unter
    ZOBODAT - www.zobodat.at Zoologisch-Botanische Datenbank/Zoological-Botanical Database Digitale Literatur/Digital Literature Zeitschrift/Journal: Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien Jahr/Year: 1998 Band/Volume: 99A Autor(en)/Author(s): Mlikovsky Jiri Artikel/Article: A new loon (Aves: Gaviidae) from the Middle Miocene of Austria 331- 339 ©Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, download unter www.biologiezentrum.at Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien 99 A 331–339 Wien, April 1998 A new loon (Aves: Gaviidae) from the middle Miocene of Austria by Jiˇrí MLÍKOVSKY´* (With 2 plates) Manuscript received on June 8th 1994 Summary A new loon species, Gavia schultzi, was described from the Badenian, middle Miocene, of St. Margarethen, Burgenland, Austria. It represents the second oldest record of the genus. Key words: Aves, Miocene, Austria. Zusammenfassung Eine neue Seetaucherart, Gavia schultzi, wurde aus dem Badenien (Mittel-Miozän) von St. Margarethen im Burgenland, Österreich, beschrieben. Es handelt sich um den zweitältesten Beleg dieser Gattung. Schlüsselwörter: Vögel, Miozän, Burgenland, Österreich. Introduction The loons or divers (family Gaviidae) are ichthyophagous and insectivorous diving birds, which inhabit lakes and seas of the northern Holarctic (HÖHN 1982). Their fossil record goes back to the late Eocene (OLSON 1985), and is increasingly rich in younger deposits (see below). In the present paper, I will describe a new loon species from the locality Sankt Marga- rethen in Burgenland, Austria (46.51 N, 14.48 E). The locality is marine deposits, dated at the middle part of the middle Miocene (Badenian), MN-zone 7 (O. SCHULTZ, pers. communication). It yielded numerous fish remains (O. SCHULTZ, pers. communication) and a few bird bones, which are described below.
    [Show full text]
  • Marine Vertebrate Faunas from the Quiriquina
    U N I V E R S I D A D D E C O N C E P C I Ó N DEPARTAMENTO DE CIENCIAS DE LA TIERRA 10° CONGRESO GEOLÓGICO CHILENO 2003 APORTES AL CONOCIMIENTO DE LOS VERTEBRADOS MARINOS DE LA FORMACIÓN QUIRIQUINA SUÁREZ, M.E.1, QUINZIO, L.A.2, FRITIS, O.3 Y BONILLA, R.2 1 Sección Paleontología, Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Casilla 787, Santiago, Chile 2 Departamento Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad de Concepción, casilla 160-C, Concepción Chile, [email protected], [email protected] 3Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Oceanográficas, Universidad de Concepción. INTRODUCCIÓN La existencia de vertebrados marinos en los fósiles en las rocas sedimentarias marinas del Cretácico de la Formación Quiriquina (Campaniano?-Maastrichtiano) fue tempranamente reportada en la literatura por Gay (1848), Philippi (1887), Wetzel(1930) y Oliver-Schneider (1936). Estos autores indican la presencia de plesiosaurios y dientes de peces provenientes de la Isla Quiriquina y zonas aledañas a Concepción. Debido a que la mayor parte del material tipo sobre el cual se basaron las determinaciones de estos autores encuentra perdido, ha sido necesario re-evaluar la fauna sobre la base de nuevo material fósil. Recientes trabajos de campo en varias localidades de la Formación Quiriquina y revisiones de la colección del Museo Geológico Prof. Lajos Biró, de la Universidad de Concepción (UDEC), y colecciones del Museo Nacional de Historia Natural (MNHN), han permitido clarificar dudas taxonómicas y recopilar nuevos e importantes datos acerca de la diversidad taxonómica de esta formación. Este trabajo comprende una revisión actualizada de la fauna de vertebrados de la Formación Quiriquina con breves comentarios acerca de sus componentes.
    [Show full text]
  • A PHYLOGENETIC REEVALUATION of the GENUS GAVIA (AVES: GAVIIFORMES) USING NEXT-GENERATION SEQUENCING Quentin D
    Northern Michigan University NMU Commons All NMU Master's Theses Student Works 4-2014 A PHYLOGENETIC REEVALUATION OF THE GENUS GAVIA (AVES: GAVIIFORMES) USING NEXT-GENERATION SEQUENCING Quentin D. Sprengelmeyer [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.nmu.edu/theses Part of the Evolution Commons Recommended Citation Sprengelmeyer, Quentin D., "A PHYLOGENETIC REEVALUATION OF THE GENUS GAVIA (AVES: GAVIIFORMES) USING NEXT-GENERATION SEQUENCING" (2014). All NMU Master's Theses. 1. https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/1 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at NMU Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in All NMU Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of NMU Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. A PHYLOGENETIC REEVALUATION OF THE GENUS GAVIA (AVES: GAVIIFORMES) USING NEXT-GENERATION SEQUENCING By Quentin D. Sprengelmeyer THESIS Submitted to Northern Michigan University In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Office of Graduate Education and Research 2014 SIGNATURE APPROVAL FORM Title of Thesis: A PHYLOGENETIC REEVALUATION OF THE GENUS GAVIA USING NEXT-GENERATION SEQUENCING This thesis by Quentin Sprengelmeyer is recommended for approval by the student’s Thesis Committee and Department Head in the Department of Biology and by the Assistant Provost of Graduate Education and Research. ____________________________________________________________ Committee Chair: Dr. Alec Lindsay Date ____________________________________________________________
    [Show full text]
  • The Oldest Known Bird Archaeopteryx Lithographica Lived During the Tithonian Stage of the Jurassic Some 150 Ma (Megannum = Million Years) Ago
    T y r b e r g , T .: Cretaceous© Ornithologische Birds Gesellschaft Bayern, download unter www.biologiezentrum.at 249 Verh. orn. Ges. Bayern 24, 1986: 249—275 Cretaceous Birds - a short review of the first half of avian history By Tommy Tyrberg 1. Introduction The oldest known bird Archaeopteryx lithographica lived during the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic some 150 Ma (Megannum = million years) ago. The Cretaceous period which lasted from ca 144 Ma to 65 Ma therefore constitutes approximately one half of known avian history (table 1). During these 80 Ma birds evolved from the primitive Archaeopteryx — in many ways intermediate between birds and reptiles - to essentially modern forms which in some cases are recognizable as members of extant avian orders. Unfortunately this process is very poorly documented by fossils. Fossil birds as a general rule are not common. The lifestyle of birds and their fragile, often pneumatized, bones are not conducive to successful fossilization, and even when preserved avian bones are probably often overlooked or misidentified. Col- lectors investigating Mesozoic Continental deposits are likely to have their “search image” centered on either dinosaurs or mammals. It is symptomatic that of the five known specimens of Archaeopteryx two were originally misidentified, one as a ptero- saur and the other as a small dinosaur Compsognathus. Even when a fossil has been collected and identified as avian, problems are far from over. Avian skeletal elements are frequently badly preserved and rather undiagnostic, moreover birds (usually) lack teeth. This is a serious handicap since teeth are durable and frequently yield a remarkable amount of information about the lifestyle and taxo- nomic position of the former owners.
    [Show full text]
  • Download/4084574/Burrow Young1999.Pdf 1262 Burrow, C
    bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2019.12.19.882829; this version posted December 27, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under 1aCC-BY-ND 4.0 International license. Recalibrating the transcriptomic timetree of jawed vertebrates 1 David Marjanović 2 Department of Evolutionary Morphology, Science Programme “Evolution and Geoprocesses”, 3 Museum für Naturkunde – Leibniz Institute for Evolutionary and Biodiversity Research, Berlin, 4 Germany 5 Correspondence: 6 David Marjanović 7 [email protected] 8 Keywords: timetree, calibration, divergence date, Gnathostomata, Vertebrata 9 Abstract 10 Molecular divergence dating has the potential to overcome the incompleteness of the fossil record in 11 inferring when cladogenetic events (splits, divergences) happened, but needs to be calibrated by the 12 fossil record. Ideally but unrealistically, this would require practitioners to be specialists in molecular 13 evolution, in the phylogeny and the fossil record of all sampled taxa, and in the chronostratigraphy of 14 the sites the fossils were found in. Paleontologists have therefore tried to help by publishing 15 compendia of recommended calibrations, and molecular biologists unfamiliar with the fossil record 16 have made heavy use of such works. Using a recent example of a large timetree inferred from 17 molecular data, I demonstrate that calibration dates cannot be taken from published compendia 18 without risking strong distortions to the results, because compendia become outdated faster than they 19 are published. The present work cannot serve as such a compendium either; in the slightly longer 20 term, it can only highlight known and overlooked problems.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 2 the Fossil Record of Mesozoic and Paleocene Pennaraptorans
    Chapter 2 The Fossil Record of Mesozoic and Paleocene Pennaraptorans MICHAEL PITTMAN,1 JINGMAI O’CONNOR,2 EDISON TSE,1 PETER MAKOVICKY,3 DANIEL J. FIELD,4 WAISUM MA,5 ALAN H. TURNER,6 MARK A. NORELL,7 RUI PEI,2 AND XING XU2 ABSTRACT An unabated surge of new and important discoveries continues to transform knowledge of pen- naraptoran biology and evolution amassed over the last 150+ years. This chapter summarizes prog- ress made thus far in sampling the pennaraptoran fossil record of the Mesozoic and Paleocene and proposes priority areas of attention moving forward. Oviraptorosaurians are bizarre, nonparavian pennaraptorans first discovered in North America and Mongolia within Late Cretaceous rocks in the early 20th century. We now know that oviraptorosaurians also occupied the Early Cretaceous and their unquestionable fossil record is currently limited to Laurasia. Early Cretaceous material from China preserves feathers and other soft tissues and ingested remains including gastroliths and other stomach contents, while brooding specimens and age-structured, single- species accumulations from China and Mongolia provide spectacular behavioral insights. Less specialized early oviraptorosaurians like Incisivosaurus and Microvenator remain rare, and ancestral forms expected in the Late Jurassic are yet to be discovered, although some authors have suggested Epidexipteryx and possibly other scansoriopterygids may represent early-diverging oviraptorosaurians. Long-armed scansoriopterygids from the Middle-Late Jurassic of Laurasia are either early-diverg- ing oviraptorosaurians or paravians, and some have considered them to be early-diverging avialans. Known from five (or possibly six) feathered specimens from China, only two mature individuals exist, representing these taxa. These taxa,Yi and Ambopteryx, preserve stylopod-supported wing membranes that are the only known alternative to the feathered, muscular wings that had been exclusively associated with dinosaurian flight.
    [Show full text]
  • The Fossil Record of Birds from the James Ross Basin, West Antarctica
    • Review • Advances in Polar Science doi: 10.13679/j.advps.2019.0014 September 2019 Vol. 30 No. 3: 251-273 The fossil record of birds from the James Ross Basin, West Antarctica Carolina ACOSTA HOSPITALECHE1,2*, Piotr JADWISZCZAK3, Julia A. CLARKE4 & Marcos CENIZO5,6 1 Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Godoy Cruz, Argentina; 2 División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Argentina; 3 Institute of Biology, University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland; 4 Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas, USA; 5 División Paleontología, Museo de Historia Natural de La Pampa, Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina; 6 Fundación de Historia Natural Félix de Azara, Departamento de Ciencias Naturales y Antropología, CEBBAD– Universidad Maimónides, Buenos Aires, Argentina Received 10 March 2019; accepted 12 June 2019; published online 22 July 2019 Abstract The fossil record of birds from Antarctica is concentrated in the James Ross Basin, located in north-east of the Antarctic Peninsula. Birds are here represented by an extensive Paleogene record of penguins (Sphenisciformes) and Cretaceous–Paleogene record of Anseriformes, followed by other groups with a minor representation (Procellariiformes, Falconiformes, and Pelagornithidae), and others previously assigned controversially to “Ratites”, Threskiornithidae, Charadriiformes, Gruiformes, Phoenicopteriformes, and Gaviiformes. We provide a complete update of these records, commenting on the importance of some of these remains for the evolution of the major clades. Keywords fossil, avifauna, Cretaceous, Paleogene, Seymour Island, Vega Island Citation: Acosta Hospitaleche C, Jadwiszczak P, Clarke J A, et al. The fossil record of birds from the James Ross Basin, West Antarctica.
    [Show full text]
  • Higher-Order Phylogeny of Modern Birds (Theropoda, Aves: Neornithes) Based on Comparative Anatomy
    Blackwell Publishing LtdOxford, UKZOJZoological Journal of the Linnean Society0024-4082© 2007 The Linnean Society of London? 2007 1491 195 Original Article HIGHER-ORDER PHYLOGENY OF MODERN BIRDS B. C. LIVEZEY and R. L. ZUSI Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2007, 149, 1–95. With 18 figures Higher-order phylogeny of modern birds (Theropoda, Aves: Neornithes) based on comparative anatomy. II. Analysis and discussion BRADLEY C. LIVEZEY1* and RICHARD L. ZUSI2 1Section of Birds, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-4080, USA 2Division of Birds, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA Received April 2006; accepted for publication September 2006 OnlineOpen: This article is available free online at www.blackwell-synergy.com In recent years, avian systematics has been characterized by a diminished reliance on morphological cladistics of mod- ern taxa, intensive palaeornithogical research stimulated by new discoveries and an inundation by analyses based on DNA sequences. Unfortunately, in contrast to significant insights into basal origins, the broad picture of neor- nithine phylogeny remains largely unresolved. Morphological studies have emphasized characters of use in palae- ontological contexts. Molecular studies, following disillusionment with the pioneering, but non-cladistic, work of Sibley and Ahlquist, have differed markedly from each other and from morphological works in both methods and find- ings. Consequently, at the turn of the millennium, points of robust agreement among schools concerning higher-order neornithine phylogeny have been limited to the two basalmost and several mid-level, primary groups. This paper describes a phylogenetic (cladistic) analysis of 150 taxa of Neornithes, including exemplars from all non-passeriform families, and subordinal representatives of Passeriformes.
    [Show full text]
  • Newsletter Number 67
    The Palaeontology Newsletter Contents 67 Foreword 2 Association Business 3 Association Meetings 9 News: The Wren’s Nest 13 From our correspondents Core values 17 On molecular clocks, molecular fetish 25 PalaeoMath 101: multidimensions 30 Meeting Reports 49 Mystery Fossil 12 58 Reporter: Darwin, Patron Saint 60 Eagle Owls 63 Future meetings of other bodies 64 Outside The Box: 73 A palaeontologist digs the foundations Sylvester-Bradley reports 77 Book Reviews 88 Palaeontology vol 51 parts 1 & 2 98–101 Reminder: The deadline for copy for Issue no 68 is 16th June 2008. On the Web: <http://www.palass.org/> ISSN: 0954-9900 Newsletter 67 2 Foreword It is of no little surprise to me that we are already well into 2008 and the 52nd year of The Association. Our immediately past Annual Meeting, in Uppsala in December, was a great success with over 250 delegates present. Graham Budd and his team of helpers deserve all our thanks for their efficient organisation and kind hospitality. The pre-meeting Symposium on the Sunday was a stimulating event, followed by two crowded days of talks and posters at the high standards we have come to expect. At the Annual Dinner, it was a great pleasure for me to present the Lapworth Medal to Professor Tony Hallam in recognition of his many significant contributions to our subject. And in all this, the snow stayed away! Now our planning already looks forward to Glasgow and the 52nd Annual Meeting, where Maggie Cusack and her colleagues will certainly give us a true Scottish welcome. First details are included in this Newsletter, and we look forward to seeing you all there.
    [Show full text]
  • Maquetación 1
    31 JORNADAS ARGENTINAS DE PALEONTOLOGÍA DE VERTEBRADOS Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturales Pachamama, Santa Clara del Mar, Partido de Mar Chiquita Provincia de Buenos Aires 3 al 6 de mayo de 2017 LIBRO DE RESÚMENES Auspician COMISIÓN ORGANIZADORA María Andreolli Karina Azurmendi Cintia Juárez Flavia Lagune Marcos Mendoza Ricardo Ripoll Agustín Rodríguez Rubén D. Scian Pablo C. Straccia Daniel A. Tassara Martín Vallejo REVISORES CIENTÍFICOS Adan Tauber Alejandro Kramarz Alfredo Carlini Alafredo Zurita Augusto Haro Bernardo González Riga Daniel A. Tassara Diego Verzi Federico Agnolin Federico Gianechini Gerardo González Barba Ignacio Cerda Javier Gelfo Jorge Calvo José L. Prado José Ogorman Juan C. Fernicola Julia D’Angelo Laura Cruz Marcos Cenizo Mariano Bond Néstor Toledo Norma Nasif Pablo Gallina Pablo C. Straccia Sebastián Apesteguia Sergio Bogan Sergio Vizcaino Silvina De Valais Susana Bargo Verónica Krapovikas Xabier Pereda Suberbiola Doi: 10.5710/PEAPA.26.11.2018.278 R62 PE-APA 18 (2) – Suplemento RESÚMENES CONFERENCIAS EL ÁREA PALEONTOLÓGICA DE LA BUITRERA: 45 KILÓMETROS DE DESIERTO CRETÁCICO S. A PESTEGUIA 1 1Área de Paleontología, Fundación de Historia Natural “Félix de Azara”, CEBBAD, Universidad Maimónides, CONICET. Hidalgo 775, 1405 Ciu dad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina. [email protected] El Área Paleontológica de La Buitrera (APLB), descubierta hace 20 años, provee abundantes especímenes de tetrápodos ar - ticulados, tridimensionales y de exquisita preservación histológica. Destacan el esfenodonte eilenodontino Priosphenodon avelasi Apesteguía y Novas, el deinonicosaurio unenlagino Buitreraptor gonzalezorum Makovicky, Apesteguía y Agnolín; la ser - piente con patas Najash rionegrina Apesteguía y Zaher y el mamífero driolestoideo Cronopio dentiacutus Rougier, Apesteguía y Gaetano, publicados en la revista Nature, así como el cocodrilo Araripesuchus buitreraensis Pol y Apesteguía; el alvarezsáu - rido basal Alnashetri cerropoliciensis Makovicky, Apesteguía y Gianechini, lagartos, tortugas y dipnoos, así como numerosos icnofósiles.
    [Show full text]