Project 3665: D. J. Field, J. Benito, A. Chen, J. W. Jagt, D. T. Ksepka. 2020. Late Cretaceous neornithine from Europe illuminates the origins of crown birds. Nature. 579 (7799):397-401.
Abstract
Our understanding of the earliest stages of crown bird evolution is hindered by an exceedingly sparse avian fossil record from the Mesozoic era. The most ancient phylogenetic divergences among crown birds are known to have occurred in the Cretaceous period1,2,3, but stem-lineage representatives of the deepest subclades of crown birds—Palaeognathae (ostriches and kin), Galloanserae (landfowl and waterfowl) and Neoaves (all other extant birds)—are unknown from the Mesozoic era. As a result, key questions related to the ecology4,5, biogeography3,6,7 and divergence times1,8,9,10 of ancestral crown birds remain unanswered. Here we report a new Mesozoic fossil that occupies a position close to the last common ancestor of Galloanserae and fills a key phylogenetic gap in the early evolutionary history of crown birds10,11. Asteriornis maastrichtensis, gen. et sp. nov., from the Maastrichtian age of Belgium (66.8–66.7 million years ago), is represented by a nearly complete, three-dimensionally preserved skull and associated postcranial elements. The fossil represents one of the only well-supported crown birds from the Mesozoic era12, and is the first Mesozoic crown bird with well-represented cranial remains. Asteriornis maastrichtensis exhibits a previously undocumented combination of galliform (landfowl)-like and anseriform (waterfowl)-like features, and its presence alongside a previously reported Ichthyornis-like taxon from the same locality13 provides direct evidence of the co-occurrence of crown birds and avialan stem birds. Its occurrence in the Northern Hemisphere challenges biogeographical hypotheses of a Gondwanan origin of crown birds3, and its relatively small size and possible littoral ecology may corroborate proposed ecological filters4,5,9 that influenced the persistence of crown birds through the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.Read the article »
Article DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2096-0
Project DOI: 10.7934/P3665, http://dx.doi.org/10.7934/P3665
This project contains | Matrices |
---|---|
Download Project SDD File | Total scored cells: 9819 Total media associated with cells: 0 Total labels associated with cell media: 0 |
Characters | |
Total characters: 297 Total characters with associated media: 0 Total characters with media with labels: 0 Total character states: 714 Total character states with associated media: 0 Total character states with media with labels:0 Total unordered/ordered characters:233/64 |
Currently Viewing:
MorphoBank Project 3665
MorphoBank Project 3665
- Creation Date:
18 March 2020 - Publication Date:
18 March 2020 - Project views: 12355
- Media downloads: 1
- Matrix downloads: 21
This research
supported by
Authors' Institutions
- University of Cambridge
- University of Bath
- Natuurhistorisch Museum Maastricht
- Bruce Museum
Members
member name | taxa | specimens | media | chars | character
| cell scorings (scored, NPA, "-") | cell
| rules | ||||||
MorphoBank Curator Project Administrator | 39 | 1 | 1 | 297 | 0 | 0 | 9819 (9466, 0, 353) | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
Daniel Field Full membership | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (0, 0, 0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Taxonomic Overview for Matrix 'M26512' (39 Taxa)
taxon | unscored cells |
scored cells |
no cell support |
NPA cells |
"-" cells | cell images | labels on cell images |
member access |
[1] † Ichthyornis dispar Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 75 | 223 | 220 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[2] Tinamus robustus Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 5 | 289 | 289 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[3] † Vegavis iaai Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 155 | 140 | 140 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[4] Chauna torquata Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 1 | 294 | 293 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[5] Anhima cornuta Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 1 | 294 | 293 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[6] † Wilaru tedfordi Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 126 | 169 | 169 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[7] † Presbyornis pervetus Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 36 | 259 | 259 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[8] † Conflicto antarcticus Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 132 | 164 | 164 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[9] † Anatalavis oxfordi Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 182 | 113 | 113 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[10] Anseranas semipalmata Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 2 | 293 | 293 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[11] Dendrocygna eytoni Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 2 | 294 | 294 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[12] Cereopsis novaehollandiae Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 0 | 296 | 296 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[13] Anser caerulescens Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 2 | 294 | 294 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[14] Tadorna tadornoides Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 0 | 296 | 296 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[15] Leipoa ocellata Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 3 | 293 | 293 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[16] Megapodius reinwardt Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 11 | 285 | 285 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[17] Megapodius eremita Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 11 | 285 | 285 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[18] Alectura lathami Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 0 | 296 | 296 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[19] Macrocephalon maleo Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 6 | 290 | 290 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[20] Gallus gallus Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 0 | 299 | 296 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[21] Phasianus colchicus Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 6 | 290 | 290 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[22] Coturnix pectoralis Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 6 | 290 | 290 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[23] Acryllium vulturinum Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 6 | 291 | 290 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[24] Crax rubra Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 3 | 293 | 292 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[25] Ortalis vetula Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 1 | 295 | 295 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[26] Dromaius novaehollandiae Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 1 | 215 | 215 | 0 | 81 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[27] Dinornis robustus Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 16 | 193 | 193 | 0 | 88 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[28] Struthio camelus Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 2 | 204 | 204 | 0 | 91 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[29] † Lithornis promiscuus Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 27 | 266 | 266 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[30] † Lithornis plebius Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 73 | 220 | 220 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[31] † Paracathartes howardae Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 95 | 199 | 199 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[32] Burhinus grallarius Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 1 | 289 | 289 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[33] Porphyrio melanotus Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 0 | 290 | 290 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[34] Antigone rubicunda Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 1 | 290 | 290 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[35] Cariama cristata Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 2 | 288 | 286 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[36] † Asteriornis maastrichtensis Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 239 | 57 | 57 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[37] † Gallinuloides wyomingensis Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 204 | 91 | 91 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[38] † Pelagornis chilensis Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 129 | 161 | 161 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
[39] † Protodontopteryx ruthae Last Modified in 03/18/20 | 214 | 78 | 78 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Project views
type | number of views | Individual items viewed (where applicable) |
Total project views | 12355 | |
Project overview | 1124 | |
Specimen list | 1197 | |
Matrix views | 863 | Character-taxon matrix: Nexus file used for the phylogenetic analyses. (179 views); Matrix landing page (684 views); |
Media views | 2307 | Media search (1991 views); M686959 (316 views); |
Bibliography | 475 | |
Views for media list | 736 | |
Taxon list | 5648 | |
Documents list | 5 |
Project downloads
type | number of downloads | Individual items downloaded (where applicable) |
Total downloads from project | 144 | |
Project downloads | 122 | |
Matrix downloads | 21 | Character-taxon matrix: Nexus file used for the phylogenetic analyses. (21 downloads); |
Media downloads | 1 | M686959 (1 download); |