Evolution: The dawn of modern birds
Nature
March 19, 2020
A newly discovered fossil bird that may represent the oldest ‘modern’ bird reported to date is described in Nature this week, offering insights into the timing of bird diversification. The fossil skull, dated to between 66.8 and 66.7 million years ago, has features seen in present-day ducks and chickens. This finding indicates that modern birds emerged just before the end-Cretaceous mass-extinction event, which was caused by the impact of a large asteroid or comet.
The early evolution of crown birds (the group of the common ancestor of all living birds, and all its descendants, whether living or extinct) is poorly understood, owing to gaps in the fossil record. In particular, the Mesozoic era (around 250 - 66 million years ago) has only one well-supported example, and several fragmented fossils that have ambiguous links to the crown group. A new Mesozoic fossil bird named Asteriornis maastrichtensis, found in the Maastricht Formation of Belgium, may help to fill this gap.
Asteriornis is a well-preserved fossil that includes a nearly complete three-dimensional skull, report Daniel Field and colleagues. The fossil exhibits a combination of landfowl-like and waterfowl-like features, such as a beak that resembles that of modern landfowl. Its name, Asteriornis, is derived from Asteria - a Greek goddess of falling stars who turns into a quail - reflecting both the impending end-Cretaceous asteroid impact and the affinity of Asteriornis to fowl birds. The authors estimate that the bird weighed just under 400 grams. This relatively small size, together with its provenance from marine sediments, indicates that Asteriornis may have been a shore-dwelling bird, which supports a hypothesis of shorebird-like origins for much of the diversity of crown birds
doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2096-0
Research highlights
-
Jun 29
COVID-19: Assessing instances of long COVID in UK health dataNature Communications
-
Jun 24
Palaeontology: It sucked to be the prey of ancient cephalopodsScientific Reports
-
Jun 24
Sport science: New wearable sensor to measure neck strain may detect potential concussionScientific Reports
-
Jun 23
Scientific community: Women credited less than men in scientific paper authorshipNature
-
Jun 17
Health technology: New cost-effective smartphone test for middle ear functionCommunications Medicine
-
Jun 17
Conservation: Feral cats pushing critically endangered marsupial further towards extinctionScientific Reports