A diminutive perinate European Enantiornithes reveals an asynchronous ossification pattern in early birds

Knoll, Fabien; Chiappe, Luis M.; Sanchez, Sophie; Garwood, Russell J.; Edwards, Nicholas P.; Wogelius, Roy A.; Sellers, William I.; Manning, Phillip L.; Ortega, Francisco; Serrano, Francisco J.; Marugan-Lobon, Jesus; Cuesta, Elena; Escaso, Fernando; Sanz, Jose Luis

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03295-9

Title: A diminutive perinate European Enantiornithes reveals an asynchronous ossification pattern in early birds

Journal Article · Mon Mar 05 00:00:00 EST 2018 · Nature Communications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03295-9· OSTI ID:1437354

^[1]; Chiappe, Luis M. ^[2];

^[3];

^[4]; Edwards, Nicholas P. ^[5]; Wogelius, Roy A. ^[6];

^[6]; Manning, Phillip L. ^[7];

^[8];

^[9]; Marugan-Lobon, Jesus ^[10];

^[11];

^[8];

^[11]

ARAID—Fundacion Conjunto Paleontologico de Teruel-Dinopolis, Teruel (Spain); Univ. of Manchester (United Kingdom). School of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dinosaur Inst.
Uppsala Univ. (Sweden). Dept. of Organismal Biology; European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), Grenoble (France)
Univ. of Manchester (United Kingdom). School of Earth and Environmental Sciences; Natural History Museum, London (United Kingdom). Dept. of Earth Sciences
Univ. of Manchester (United Kingdom). School of Earth and Environmental Sciences; SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL)
Univ. of Manchester (United Kingdom). School of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Univ. of Manchester (United Kingdom). School of Earth and Environmental Sciences; College of Charleston, Charleston, SC (United States). Dept. of Geology and Environmental Geosciences
Univ. Nacional de Educacion a Distancia, Madrid (Spain)
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dinosaur Inst.; Univ. de Malaga, Malaga (Spain)
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Dinosaur Inst.; Univ. Autonoma de Madrid (Spain). Facultad de Ciencias
Univ. Autonoma de Madrid (Spain). Facultad de Ciencias

Fossils of juvenile Mesozoic birds provide insight into the early evolution of avian development, however such fossils are rare. The analysis of the ossification sequence in these early-branching birds has the potential to address important questions about their comparative developmental biology and to help understand their morphological evolution and ecological differentiation. Here we report on an early juvenile enantiornithine specimen from the Early Cretaceous of Europe, which sheds new light on the osteogenesis in this most species-rich clade of Mesozoic birds. Consisting of a nearly complete skeleton, it is amongst the smallest known Mesozoic avian fossils representing post-hatching stages of development. Finally, comparisons between this new specimen and other known early juvenile enantiornithines support a clade-wide asynchronous pattern of osteogenesis in the sternum and the vertebral column, and strongly indicate that the hatchlings of these phylogenetically basal birds varied greatly in size and tempo of skeletal maturation.

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Research Organization:: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; European Union (EU)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-76SF00515

OSTI ID:: 1437354

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Vol. 9, Issue 1; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 27 works

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