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17 results for “Mesozoic birds”
Supplementary material for "Quantitative morphological analysis of skulls of pterosaurs and early birds highlight a functional shift during the Mesozoic" by Gauweiler J. et al.
<p>This data repository contains additional information and supplemental material for the publication "Quantitative morphological analysis of skulls of pterosaurs and early birds highlight a functional shift during the Mesozoic". For information on the authors, see the original publication.</p> <p>The folder "Prehistoric_Ornithodira_BMPs.zip" contains outline images in .bmp format of all skulls used for the analysis.</p> <p>The file "Groups.csv" contains the grouping variables for all data points.</p> <p>The file "PC_Scores.csv" contaisn the principal component scores of the SHAPE analysis for all individuals used in the analysis.</p> <p>The file "Pterosaur_Avian_Script.R" contaisn the R code used for statistical analysis and plotting of the data.</p>
Data and script for: The patterns and modes of the evolution of disparity in Mesozoic Birds
<p>The origin of birds from non-avian theropod dinosaurs is one of the greatest transitions in evolution. Shortly after diverging from other theropods in the Late Jurassic, Mesozoic birds diversified into two major clades—the Enantiornithes and Ornithuromorpha—acquiring many features previously considered unique to the crown groups along the way. Here we present a comparative phylogenetic study of the patterns and modes of Mesozoic bird skeletal morphology and limb proportions. Our results show that the major Mesozoic avian groups are distinctive in discrete character space, but constrained in morphospace defined by limb proportions. The Enantiornithines, despite being the dominant group of Mesozoic birds, are much less morphologically disparate than their sister clade, the Ornithuromorpha—the clade that gave rise to living birds, showing decoupled disparity and diversity in early avian history. This relatively low disparity suggests that diversification of enantiornithines was characterized in exhausting fine morphologies, whereas ornithuromorphs continuously explored a broader array of morphologies and ecological opportunities. We suggest this clade-specific evolutionary versatility contribute to their contrasting survivorship of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.</p>
Data from: Rates of dinosaur limb evolution provide evidence for exceptional radiation in Mesozoic birds
Birds are the most diverse living tetrapod group and are a model of large-scale adaptive radiation. Neontological studies suggest a radiation within the avian crown group, long after the origin of flight. However, deep time patterns of bird evolution remain obscure because only limited fossil data have been considered. We analyse cladogenesis and limb evolution on the entire tree of Mesozoic theropods, documenting the dinosaur–bird transition and immediate origins of powered flight. Mesozoic birds inherited constraints on forelimb evolution from non-flying ancestors, and species diversification rates did not accelerate in the earliest flying taxa. However, Early Cretaceous short-tailed birds exhibit both phenotypic release of the hindlimb and increased diversification rates, unparalleled in magnitude at any other time in the first 155 Myr of theropod evolution. Thus, a Cretaceous adaptive radiation of stem-group birds was enabled by restructuring of the terrestrial locomotor module, which represents a key innovation. Our results suggest two phases of radiation in Avialae: with the Cretaceous diversification overwritten by extinctions of stem-group birds at the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary, and subsequent diversification of the crown group. Our findings illustrate the importance of fossil data for understanding the macroevolutionary processes generating modern biodiversity.
Figure 5 in Multivariate analysis of neognath skeletal measurements: implications for body mass estimation in Mesozoic birds
Figure 5. Box plots with whiskers showing the variation among locomotion modes of percentage prediction errors (%PE) for the multiple regression analysis (MR; grey) and the single regression analysis (SR; white) equations adjusted in modern birds. Box length shows the interquartile range (25th and 75th percentiles). The horizontal line within boxes indicates the median. Vertical lines show the 5–95% confidence limits. Points indicate values outside these limits (i.e. outliers). Black horizontal lines between the grey and white boxes show the %PE estimates obtained with the equation based on humeral length (HL), the osteological variable less affected by ecological groupings (as shown by its lower F-statistic values; see Tables 6 and 7). %PE values greater than zero indicate an underestimation and %PE values lower than zero indicate an overestimation. A, %PE variation with respect to groups of aerial locomotion. Abbreviations: CF, continuous flapping; FG, flapping and gliding; FB, flapping and bounding; S, soaring. B, %PE variation with respect to groups of non-aerial locomotion. Abbreviations: A, aquatic; TG, terrestrial ground-dwelling; TN, terrestrial non-ground-dwelling; ATG, aquatic and grounddwelling; TGN, perching and ground-dwelling.
Figure 1. Calibrated phylogeny for the main avian taxa. Tree topology was obtained from O in Multivariate analysis of neognath skeletal measurements: implications for body mass estimation in Mesozoic birds
Figure 1. Calibrated phylogeny for the main avian taxa. Tree topology was obtained from O'Connor, Chiappe & Bell (2011) and divergence times are based on a 'literal' interpretation of the fossil record from Brockelhurst et al. (2012). Taxa abbreviations: Nth, Neornithes; Orph, Ornithuromorpha; Orn, Ornithothoraces; Orth, Ornithurae; Pyg, Pygostylia.
Figure 4 in Multivariate analysis of neognath skeletal measurements: implications for body mass estimation in Mesozoic birds
Figure 4. Biplots used in the selection of four variables for each fossil group of Mesozoic birds: humeral length (HL), femoral length (FL), diaphyseal craniocaudal width of ulna (dUW), and diaphyseal craniocaudal width of femur (dFWcc). Each predictor variable was plotted against a combination of the 14 remaining variables used for estimating body mass (BM; Table S3). The biplots show the regression line fitted for extant birds (grey circles) with the 95% confidence intervals for BM predictions (dotted lines). Following the procedure of selection of variables (see text), HL and FL were used for generating functions that can be applied to all fossil avian taxa. In contrast, dUW and dFWcc could not be incorporated into the functions adjusted for estimating BM in Archaeopterygidae and Enantiornithes, respectively.
Figure 3 in Multivariate analysis of neognath skeletal measurements: implications for body mass estimation in Mesozoic birds
Figure 3. Effects of weighting for the best-fitting multiple regression equation obtained from the modern data set (see Table 2). A, distribution of familiar residuals for unweighted data, and for data weighted by families. Each box plot with whiskers represents one family. Box length shows the interquartile range (25th and 75th percentiles). Horizontal lines indicate the 5–95% confidence limits. Asterisks show outliers. Abbreviations for families: Ac, Accipitridae; Ad, Alcedinidae; Ae, Aegothelidae; Al, Alcidae; An, Anatidae; Ap, Apodidae; Ar, Ardeidae; At, Artamidae; Au, Alaudidae; Ca, Caprimulgidae; Cc, Cacatuidae; Ch, Charadriidae; Ci, Ciconiidae; Co, Columbidae; Cn, Cinclidae; Cr, Coraciidae; Ct, Catharthidae; Cu, Cuculidae; Cv, Corvidae; Di, Diomedeidae; Fa, Falconidae; Fg, Fringillidae; Fr, Fregatidae; Ga, Gaviidae; Gr, Gruidae; He, Hemiprocnidae; Hi, Hirundinidae; La, Laridae; Ln, Lanidae; Me, Meleagridae; Mg, Megapodidae; Mo, Motacillidae; Mp, Meropidae; Ms, Musophagidae; Mu, Muscicapidae; Ot, Otididae; Pa, Paridae; Pc, Pelecanoididae; Pd, Podicipedidae; Pe, Pelecanidae; Ph, Phasianidae; Pic, Picidae; Pit, Pittidae; Pl, Phalacrocoracidae; Pn, Pandionidae; Po, Podargidae; Pr, Procellaridae; Ps, Psittacidae; Pt, Pteroclidae; Pu, Prunellidae; Ra, Rallidae; Re, Recurvirostridae; Ry, Rynchopidae; Sc, Stercoriidae; Sg, Strigidae; So, Scolopacidae; Sr, Sturnidae; St, Sternidae; Su, Sulidae; Sy, Sylviidae, Te, Tetraonidae; Th, Threskiornithidae; Tt, Tytonidae; Tu, Turdidae; Ty, Tyrannidae; Up, Upupidae. B, plot showing the variations of %MPE with the increase of individuals per family. The dashed line represents the unweighted multiple regression analysis (MR) and the grey line represents the weighted MR.
Figure 2 in Multivariate analysis of neognath skeletal measurements: implications for body mass estimation in Mesozoic birds
Figure 2. Illustration of osteological limb measurements used in this study and defined in Table 1: A, cranial aspect of the humerus; B, dorsal aspect of the ulna and the radius; C, dorsal aspect of the carpometacarpus; D, caudal aspect of the femur; E, caudal aspect of the tibiotarsus; F, cranial aspect of the tarsometarsus.
Dental replacement in Mesozoic birds: evidence from newly discovered Brazilian enantiornithines
<p>Micro-CT scan data and the surface files (.stl) of the dentitions of the Brazilian enantiornithine specimens, MPM-90, MPM-351, and MPM-373. Please refer to the original publication. </p>
Data and script for: The patterns and modes of the evolution of disparity in Mesozoic Birds
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Data from: Rates of dinosaur limb evolution provide evidence for exceptional radiation in Mesozoic birds
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Selecting and averaging relaxed clock models in Bayesian tip dating of Mesozoic birds
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Data from: Bayesian tip dating reveals heterogeneous morphological clocks in Mesozoic birds
Recently, comprehensive morphological datasets including nearly all the well-recognized Mesozoic birds became available, making it feasible for statistically rigorous methods to unveil finer evolutionary patterns during early avian evolution. Here, we exploited the advantage of Bayesian tip dating under relaxed morphological clocks to estimate both the divergence times and evolutionary rates while accounting for their uncertainties. We further subdivided the characters into six body regions (i.e., skull, axial skeleton, pectoral girdle and sternum, forelimb, pelvic girdle, and hindlimb) to assess evolutionary rate heterogeneity both along the lineages and across partitions. We observed extremely high rates of morphological character changes during early avian evolution and the clock rates are quite heterogeneous among the six regions. The branch subtending Pygostylia shows extremely high rate in the axial skeleton, while the branches subtending Ornithothoraces and Enantiornithes show notably high rates in the pectoral girdle and sternum, and moderately high rates in the forelimb. The extensive modifications in these body regions largely correspond to refinement of the flight capability. This study reveals the power and flexibility of Bayesian tip dating implemented in MrBayes to investigate evolutionary dynamics in deep time.
Data from: Bayesian tip dating reveals heterogeneous morphological clocks in Mesozoic birds
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Data from: Pelvis morphology suggests that early Mesozoic birds were too heavy to contact incubate their eggs
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Data from: A new specimen of large-bodied basal enantiornithine Bohaiornis from the early Cretaceous of China and the inference of feeding ecology in Mesozoic birds
A new specimen of Bohaiornis guoi from the Jiufotang Formation, comprising a nearly complete skeleton, sheds light on enantiornithine morphological variation and ecological specialization. The new specimen was collected from near Lamadong Village in Liaoning Province, which is the same area where the sub-adult holotype specimen was reported. It provides new information on the cranial and pectoral girdle anatomy of the species, e.g., broad nasal, strikingly robust acromion, medially curved acrocoracoid process. In contrast to the holotype, the newly referred specimen has small rounded stones in the thoracic region that in other extinct taxa has been interpreted as direct evidence of diet. Direct evidence of diet is so far unknown in other Enantiornithes. Specifically the lack of "stomach stones" or gastroliths in enantiornithines despite their excellent fossil record has been proposed to be related to their insectivorous diet as well as to their arboreal ecology. We hypothesize that cranial morphology as well as the number and shape of the preserved stones in Bohaiornis may be most consistent with a raptorial ecology previously unknown for Enantiornithes and considered rare for Avialae. While rostrum shape has a strong relationship to feeding ecology in living birds, in basal avialan birds most diversity is in dental morphology, number, and distribution of the teeth.
Data from: A new specimen of large-bodied basal enantiornithine Bohaiornis from the early Cretaceous of China and the inference of feeding ecology in Mesozoic birds
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