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

Fabien Knoll; Luis M Chiappe; Sophie Sanchez; Russell Garwood; Nicholas Edwards; R A Wogelius; W I  Sellers; Phillip Manning; Francisco Ortega; Francisco J Serrano; Jesús Marugán-Lobón; Elena Cuesta; Fernando Escaso; José Luis Sanz

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03295-9

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

Fabien Knoll, Luis M Chiappe, Sophie Sanchez, Russell Garwood, Nicholas Edwards, R A Wogelius, W I Sellers, Phillip Manning, Francisco Ortega, Francisco J Serrano, Jesús Marugán-Lobón, Elena Cuesta, Fernando Escaso, José Luis Sanz

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

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. 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.

Original language	English
Article number	937
Pages (from-to)	937
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	9
Issue number	1
Early online date	5 Mar 2018
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03295-9
Publication status	Published - 5 Mar 2018

Keywords

Animals
Birds/growth & development
Fossils/anatomy & histology
Osteogenesis
Skeleton/anatomy & histology

Access to Document

10.1038/s41467-018-03295-9

ICAL: Interdisciplinary Centre for Ancient Life
Garwood, R. (PI), Wogelius, R. (PI), Sansom, R. (CoI), Buckley, M. (CoI), Chamberlain, A. (CoI), Manning, P. (CoI), Egerton, V. (CoI), Sellers, W. (CoI), Nudds, J. (CoI), Bulot, L. G. (CoI), Brocklehurst, R. (PGR student), Brassey, C. A. (CoI), Keating, J. (CoI), La Porta, A. (CoI), Brocklehurst, R. (PGR student), Callender-Crowe, L. (PGR student), Wallace, E. (PGR student), Chester, J. (PGR student), Davenport, J. (PGR student), Tuley, K. (PGR student), Lomax, D. (Researcher), Reeves, J. (PGR student), Smart, C. (PGR student), Ferro, C. (PGR student), Karoullas, C. (PGR student), Heath, J. (PGR student), Dickson, A. (PGR student), Austin Sydes, L. (PGR student), McLean, C. (PGR student), Harvey, V. (PGR student) & Jones, K. (PI)
Project: Research

Cite this

Knoll, F., Chiappe, L. M., Sanchez, S., Garwood, R., Edwards, N., Wogelius, R. A., Sellers, W. I., Manning, P., Ortega, F., Serrano, F. J., Marugán-Lobón, J., Cuesta, E., Escaso, F., & Sanz, J. L. (2018). A diminutive perinate European Enantiornithes reveals an asynchronous ossification pattern in early birds. Nature Communications, 9(1), 937. Article 937. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03295-9

@article{276cf3bf935744cfb75058452df59ae2,

title = "A diminutive perinate European Enantiornithes reveals an asynchronous ossification pattern in early birds",

abstract = "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. 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. ",

keywords = "Animals, Birds/growth & development, Fossils/anatomy & histology, Osteogenesis, Skeleton/anatomy & histology",

author = "Fabien Knoll and Chiappe, {Luis M} and Sophie Sanchez and Russell Garwood and Nicholas Edwards and Wogelius, {R A} and Sellers, {W I} and Phillip Manning and Francisco Ortega and Serrano, {Francisco J} and Jes{\'u}s Marug{\'a}n-Lob{\'o}n and Elena Cuesta and Fernando Escaso and Sanz, {Jos{\'e} Luis}",

year = "2018",

month = mar,

day = "5",

doi = "10.1038/s41467-018-03295-9",

language = "English",

volume = "9",

pages = "937",

journal = "Nature Communications",

issn = "2041-1723",

publisher = "Springer Nature",

number = "1",

}

Knoll, F, Chiappe, LM, Sanchez, S, Garwood, R, Edwards, N, Wogelius, RA , Sellers, WI , Manning, P, Ortega, F, Serrano, FJ, Marugán-Lobón, J, Cuesta, E, Escaso, F & Sanz, JL 2018, 'A diminutive perinate European Enantiornithes reveals an asynchronous ossification pattern in early birds', Nature Communications, vol. 9, no. 1, 937, pp. 937. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-03295-9

TY - JOUR

T1 - A diminutive perinate European Enantiornithes reveals an asynchronous ossification pattern in early birds

AU - Knoll, Fabien

AU - Chiappe, Luis M

AU - Sanchez, Sophie

AU - Garwood, Russell

AU - Edwards, Nicholas

AU - Wogelius, R A

AU - Sellers, W I

AU - Manning, Phillip

AU - Ortega, Francisco

AU - Serrano, Francisco J

AU - Marugán-Lobón, Jesús

AU - Cuesta, Elena

AU - Escaso, Fernando

AU - Sanz, José Luis

PY - 2018/3/5

Y1 - 2018/3/5

N2 - 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. 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.

AB - 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. 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.

KW - Animals

KW - Birds/growth & development

KW - Fossils/anatomy & histology

KW - Osteogenesis

KW - Skeleton/anatomy & histology

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-018-03295-9

DO - 10.1038/s41467-018-03295-9

M3 - Article

C2 - 29507288

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 9

SP - 937

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

IS - 1

M1 - 937

ER -

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

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Projects

ICAL: Interdisciplinary Centre for Ancient Life

Cite this