Late Cretaceous bird from Madagascar reveals unique development of beaks
| Autor: | Lydia J. Rahantarisoa, Raymond R. Rogers, Ryan N. Felice, David W. Krause, Alan H. Turner, Joseph R. Groenke, Patrick M. O'Connor |
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| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Premaxilla Range (biology) Zoology Morphology (biology) Biology 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Birds 03 medical and health sciences Madagascar medicine Animals Phylogeny 030304 developmental biology 0303 health sciences Multidisciplinary Fossils Beak Rostrum Crown group Biological Evolution Cretaceous medicine.anatomical_structure Feather visual_art visual_art.visual_art_medium |
| Zdroj: | Nature. 588:272-276 |
| ISSN: | 1476-4687 0028-0836 |
| Popis: | Mesozoic birds display considerable diversity in size, flight adaptations and feather organization1–4, but exhibit relatively conserved patterns of beak shape and development5–7. Although Neornithine (that is, crown group) birds also exhibit constraint on facial development8,9, they have comparatively diverse beak morphologies associated with a range of feeding and behavioural ecologies, in contrast to Mesozoic birds. Here we describe a crow-sized stem bird, Falcatakely forsterae gen. et sp. nov., from the Late Cretaceous epoch of Madagascar that possesses a long and deep rostrum, an expression of beak morphology that was previously unknown among Mesozoic birds and is superficially similar to that of a variety of crown-group birds (for example, toucans). The rostrum of Falcatakely is composed of an expansive edentulous maxilla and a small tooth-bearing premaxilla. Morphometric analyses of individual bony elements and three-dimensional rostrum shape reveal the development of a neornithine-like facial anatomy despite the retention of a maxilla–premaxilla organization that is similar to that of nonavialan theropods. The patterning and increased height of the rostrum in Falcatakely reveals a degree of developmental lability and increased morphological disparity that was previously unknown in early branching avialans. Expression of this phenotype (and presumed ecology) in a stem bird underscores that consolidation to the neornithine-like, premaxilla-dominated rostrum was not an evolutionary prerequisite for beak enlargement. A crow-sized stem bird, Falcatakely forsterae, possesses a long and deep rostrum—a beak morphology that was previously unknown among Mesozoic birds and is similar to that of some crown-group birds, such as toucans. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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