Geobios最新文献

{"title":"A new enantiornithine (Aves: Ornithothoraces) from the Lower Cretaceous Xiagou Formation with unusually short pubes","authors":"Jingmai K. O’Connor ,&nbsp;Jessie Atterholt ,&nbsp;Alexander D. Clark ,&nbsp;Linqi Zhou ,&nbsp;Cuo Peng ,&nbsp;Xiaoqin Zhang ,&nbsp;Hailu You","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.11.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.11.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We describe a partial skeleton of an enantiornithine from the Changma locality of the Lower Cretaceous Xiagou Formation in northwestern China. The specimen is tentatively interpreted as a gastric pellet. The specimen preserves an unusually short pubis that is subequal in length to the ischium, an autapomorphy among enantiornithines, justifying erection of a new taxon, <em>Novavis pubisculata</em> nov. gen., nov. sp. The abbreviated length of the pubis suggests that the abdominal cavity in this species was proportionately shorter than in all other known enantiornithines. Although several muscles attach to the pubis, the mm. <em>pubocaudalis internus</em> and <em>externus</em> were probably the most functionally impacted by the increased distance between the pubes and caudal vertebrae and subsequent elongation of these muscles. In crown avians this would result in a decrease in the contraction speed of these muscles, which play a role in tail fanning and are thus important for flight during take-off and landing. Although the underlying function of the short pubis and changes in the size of the abdominal cavity are unknown, the widespread absence of aerodynamic tail musculature and plumage in enantiornithines may have relaxed pressures constraining the length of these muscles, such that elongation of these muscles through a shortened pubis was not detrimental to the aerodynamic abilities of these birds.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"90 ","pages":"Pages 123-131"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143928090","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Aspects of diversity, paleobiology, and morphology of wing-propelled diving birds","authors":"Junya Watanabe","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.11.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.11.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Bird wings are typically regarded as an apparatus for aerial flight, but many birds are known to use their wings to propel themselves in the water. Although this mode of locomotion, the wing-propelled diving, has attained much attention from ornithologists and paleornithologists, systematic understanding of its diversity has been lacking. This paper attempts to provide an overview on this topic, gleaning information from disparate bodies of literature. Despite the common perception that wing-propelled diving is a relatively specialized mode of locomotion, it has been documented in a number of casual divers as well as many birds usually considered as specialized foot-propelled divers. The fossil record of wing-propelled divers reveals a previously unrecognized morphological diversity in these birds, although difficulty remains on how to reliably infer the presence of this locomotor mode in extinct taxa. Recent anatomical studies have indicated that evolutionary pathways toward wing-propelled diving can be more complicated and diverse than one would assume from the stereotypic idea of evolutionary convergence. Future investigations equipped with well-resolved phylogeny and sophisticated analytical techniques will undoubtedly shed light into more nuanced aspects of the evolution of this mode of locomotion.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"90 ","pages":"Pages 143-161"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143928092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Messelornithids and messelornithid-like birds from the early Eocene London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze (Essex, UK)","authors":"Gerald Mayr ,&nbsp;Andrew C. Kitchener","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2023.12.011","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2023.12.011","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We describe gruiform and gruiform-like birds from the early Eocene London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze (Essex, UK). One species belongs to the Messelornithidae and is classified as <em>Nasiornis messelornithoides</em> nov. gen., nov. sp.; the coracoid of this species resembles that of <em>Bumbaniralla</em> from the early Eocene of Mongolia. Another possible messelornithid species is tentatively assigned to the poorly known taxon <em>Parvirallus</em> Harrison and Walker, 1979, as ?<em>P. incertus</em> nov. sp. A further species is referred to the taxon <em>Walbeckornis</em> Mayr, 2007, as <em>W. waltonensis</em> nov. sp., and extends the geographical and temporal range of this taxon, which so far was only known from the Paleocene of Germany. Even though similarities between <em>Walbeckornis</em> and messelornithids were previously noted, a plesiomorphic morphology of the quadrate suggests a position of <em>Walbeckornis</em> outside crown group Gruiformes. Furthermore, all fossil taxa described in the present study lack a deeply concave facies articularis alularis (carpometacarpus), which we identify as a previously overlooked apomorphy of crown group Ralloidea. Therefore, resemblances between <em>Walbeckornis</em> and the Messelornithidae, which are the sister taxon of crown group Ralloidea, are likely to be plesiomorphic for a more inclusive clade.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"90 ","pages":"Pages 87-101"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141691518","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Micro-CT reconstruction reveals new information about the phylogenetic position and locomotion of the Early Cretaceous bird Iberomesornis romerali","authors":"Javier Castro-Terol ,&nbsp;Alejandro Pérez-Ramos ,&nbsp;Jingmai K. O’Connor ,&nbsp;José Luis Sanz ,&nbsp;Francisco J. Serrano","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.11.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.11.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The enantiornithine <em>Iberomesornis romerali</em> from the Lower Cretaceous site of Las Hoyas (Spain) was originally described more than 35 years ago. As one of the first known articulated partial skeletons of this clade, <em>I. romerali</em> has been critical to our understanding of early avian systematics. Due to its preservation as a largely two-dimensional slab specimen, previous anatomical descriptions were unable to fully capture its anatomy. Here, we present new anatomical data based on micro-computed tomography of the holotype. We reconstruct five previously poorly known osteological elements, i.e., cervical vertebrae, pygostyle, coracoid, furcula, and humerus. Re-evaluation of these elements resulted in revised scorings for 15 morphological characters commonly used for cladistic analysis of Aves. The results of the modified character matrix support <em>Iberomesornis</em> in a derived position within Enantiornithes, close to the Longipterygidae. In addition, new findings in the coracoid and humerus reveal well-developed muscles for the elevation (i.e., supracoracoideus) and flexion–extension (extensor carpi radiale) of the wing. The new evidences, together with the typical enantiornithine furcula and the small size of the holotype, suggest that <em>I. romerali</em> was capable of flapping flight.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"90 ","pages":"Pages 17-30"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143927440","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Description and osteohistology of two early immature enantiornithines (Aves: Ornithothoraces) from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota","authors":"Jingmai K. O’Connor ,&nbsp;Jessie Atterholt ,&nbsp;Alida M. Bailleul ,&nbsp;Min Wang ,&nbsp;Pei-Chen Kuo ,&nbsp;Zhonghe Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.05.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.05.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Enantiornithes is the dominant clade of Cretaceous land birds and the most diverse recognized clade of Mesozoic birds. More than half of this diversity is from the Lower Cretaceous Jehol deposits in northeastern China, and numerous late immature and mature specimens have been sectioned for histological analysis. These specimens reveal thin cortices with low amounts of vascularization and variably-present growth lines. An inner circumferential layer is typically observed, but rarely a distinct outer circumferential layer. Here we describe the morphology and histology of two early immature enantiornithines and explore ontogenetic changes in skeletal morphology and bone formation. These specimens help to fill in a crucial ontogenetic gap between the previously sectioned embryonic specimen of <em>Gobipteryx</em> and purportedly mature or near mature specimens. In support of interpretations regarding the precocial onset of flight in Enantiornithes, the proportions of the forelimb cortical thicknesses relative to the hindlimb in IVPP V15575 is very similar to mature enantiornithines. Opposite neornithines, the bone tissue of the humerus is more mature than the tibia. Precocial development of the femur is considered plesiomorphic to Aves, thus the shift towards greater maturity in the forelimb relative to the hindlimb observed in IVPP V15575 probably reflects the apomorphic evolution of super-precocial flight in enantiornithines. Osteohistological traits in IVPP V15686 and V15575 resemble those of extant chicks on the more altricial end of the developmental mode spectrum, but individuals from later growth stages. Since ossification indicates these two specimens are very immature, this highlights the unique osteohistological development of enantiornithines. Differences between these two individuals are potentially indicative of intertaxonomic variation in enantiornithine growth strategies. However, developmental plasticity in stem birds means that morphological and osteohistological maturity are decoupled and that ossification patterns can vary even within a taxon. As such, significantly more data are required to fully understand observed differences and extract patterns regarding variation in developmental strategy among enantiornithines.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"90 ","pages":"Pages 103-122"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143928089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Taphonomic damage obfuscates interpretation of the retroarticular region of the Asteriornis mandible","authors":"Abi Crane ,&nbsp;Juan Benito ,&nbsp;Albert Chen ,&nbsp;Grace Musser ,&nbsp;Christopher R. Torres ,&nbsp;Julia A. Clarke ,&nbsp;Stephan Lautenschlager ,&nbsp;Daniel T. Ksepka ,&nbsp;Daniel J. Field","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.03.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.03.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>Asteriornis maastrichtensis</em>, from the latest Cretaceous of Belgium, is among the oldest known crown bird fossils, and its three-dimensionally preserved skull provides the most substantial insights into the cranial morphology of early crown birds to date. Phylogenetic analyses recovered <em>Asteriornis</em> as a total-group member of Galloanserae, the clade uniting Galliformes and Anseriformes. One important feature supporting this placement was enlargement of the retroarticular processes, which form elongate caudal extensions of the mandible in extant Galloanserae. Here, we reinterpret the jaw of <em>Asteriornis</em> and illustrate that the caudalmost portion of the mandibles are in fact not preserved. Instead, the caudal extremities of both the left and right mandibular rami extend to the surface of the fossil block containing the holotype skull, where they have eroded away. The originally identified retroarticular process of the right mandible – which exhibits a morphology and orientation strikingly similar to the retroarticular processes of certain extant and fossil galloanserans, including the early Palaeogene total-clade anseriforms <em>Conflicto</em> and <em>Nettapterornis</em> – instead represents a twisted and caudally displaced medial process. Nonetheless, anatomical comparisons with extant taxa reveal that we cannot exclude the possibility that <em>Asteriornis</em> exhibited robust retroarticular processes comparable to those of extant Galloanserae. In light of the reinterpreted morphology of the <em>Asteriornis</em> mandible, we update the original anatomical character matrix used to investigate its phylogenetic relationships and perform revised phylogenetic analyses, which continue to support <em>Asteriornis</em> as a total-group galloanseran, as initially interpreted. We demonstrate additional morphological traits of the mandible supporting this phylogenetic position and provide new data on the nature and distribution of retroarticular processes among early crown birds.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"90 ","pages":"Pages 31-43"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143928085","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The end of the Pleistocene in south-western Europe: The avian assemblages from Heinrich event 3 to the Last Glacial Maximum in the Prades mountains (north-eastern Iberian Peninsula)","authors":"Mario Marqueta ,&nbsp;Carmen Núñez-Lahuerta ,&nbsp;Rosa Huguet ,&nbsp;Josep Maria Vergès","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.11.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.11.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The study of bird assemblages recovered from archaeological sites provides palaeoclimatic and environmental information, as well as data on the formation processes assemblages and the agents that have acted upon them. In this paper, we present the results of palaeontological and taphonomic analysis of seven avian assemblages recovered from two sites located in the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula: Galls Carboners (GC; 31,380–31,170 cal. BP) and Cudó (CU; CU107 31,245–24,404 cal. BP and CU105 15,585–10,199 cal. BP). GC has yielded four different assemblages (GC105, GC106, GC107, GC108) corresponding to the Heinrich event 3, with only three different taxa, dominated by the presence of Columba. Most of these remains belong to immature individuals. At CU, we studied two assemblages (CU107–CU105) corresponding to Heinrich 3, Heinrich 2 and the Last Glacial Maximum with a similar taxonomic diversity to GC. Assemblage CU105 exhibits the greatest diversity, and small Passeriformes are the most abundant taxa recorded. Of particular interest is the presence of cf. <em>Pinicola enucleator</em> in CU107, today absent in the area and present in boreal areas. Taphonomic results suggest that the origin of accumulations for both sites (GC and CU) was natural death. In addition, different agents modified these accumulations: small carnivorous mammals and nocturnal raptors affected GC’s assemblages, while nocturnal and diurnal raptors would have been the main predators of the birds documented at the CU site. Despite the differences between the accumulations, Heinrich 3 assemblages from GC and CU show a similar low degree of diversity, dominated by rock-dwelling taxa. This may be related to the harsh environment of the area during Heinrich event 3, and not to a taphonomic bias. The more diverse assemblage of CU105 points to an ecosystem recovery after the LGM.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"90 ","pages":"Pages 59-76"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143928087","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A synopsis of the Early Miocene St Bathans Fauna of New Zealand","authors":"Trevor H. Worthy ,&nbsp;R. Paul Scofield ,&nbsp;Vanesa L. De Pietri ,&nbsp;Steven W. Salisbury ,&nbsp;Werner Schwarzhans ,&nbsp;Suzanne J. Hand ,&nbsp;Michael Archer","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.03.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.03.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The St Bathans Fauna, from sites near the village of St Bathans, Central Otago, South Island, is the first substantive pre-Quaternary terrestrial vertebrate fossil fauna discovered in New Zealand. This fauna derives from 33 sites or discrete sedimentary beds located in the lower 50 m of the lacustrine Bannockburn Formation, Manuherikia Group, and is generally accepted as local stage Altonian (19–15.9 Ma; Burdigalian, Early Miocene) in age. Investigations since 2001 have revealed an abundant and diverse fauna from over 9000 catalogued lots that is herein reviewed. Invertebrates notably include eight genera and species of terrestrial molluscs. Among vertebrates, freshwater fish remains dominate with 17 species evidenced by 16,500 analysed otoliths (genera <em>Neochanna</em>, <em>Galaxias</em>, <em>Prototroctes</em>, and <em>Mataichthys</em>) and many thousands of bones. Birds (minimally 45 species, several thousand bones) are the most common non-fish vertebrates, among which waterfowls dominate all assemblages (10 species). Co-occurring with these was a diverse herpetofauna, including undetermined crocodylians and a terrestrial turtle, both absent in Recent faunas. Significantly, the St Bathans Fauna evidences that Zealandia already had all of New Zealand’s ‘old’ endemic Recent taxa (sphenodontids, leiopelmatids, dinornithiforms, apterygids, aptornithids, strigopoid parrots, acanthisittids, and mystacinids) during the Early Miocene. Furthermore, it includes Australasia’s oldest ardeids, two flightless rallids, a novel higher landbird family, a greater diversity of bats, and terrestrial mammals. All sites reflect a single fauna, except that the ducks <em>Manuherikia lacustrina</em> (stratigraphically lower in section) and <em>M. primadividua</em> (higher) have a mutually exclusive distribution that is not yet correlated with any other biotic distribution differences.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"90 ","pages":"Pages 163-178"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143928093","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Early Miocene gull-like birds (Charadriiformes: Laridae) from New Zealand","authors":"Vanesa L. De Pietri ,&nbsp;R. Paul Scofield ,&nbsp;Suzanne J. Hand ,&nbsp;Mike Archer ,&nbsp;Alan J.D. Tennyson ,&nbsp;Trevor H. Worthy","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.021","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2024.08.021","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The shorebird family Laridae encompasses gulls, terns, skimmers, and noddies, which today primarily inhabit near-shore marine environments worldwide. Several species of larids of uncertain phylogenetic position within the group have been described from the late Oligocene-Early Miocene of Saint-Gérand-le-Puy, France, but despite this diversity, their global pre-Pliocene fossil record remains poor, especially in the Southern Hemisphere. Here we describe two new species of Laridae from the lacustrine deposits of St Bathans in Central Otago, New Zealand: <em>Australarus bakeri</em> nov. gen., nov. sp., one of the smallest larids known to date, and the medium-sized <em>Miolarus rectirostrum</em> nov. gen., nov. sp. The new species are very distinct from the Oligo-Miocene European taxa, and, at least for <em>A. bakeri</em>, the presence of immature bones indicates local breeding. <em>Australarus bakeri</em>’s distinctiveness and presence of seemingly plesiomorphic features, especially of the humerus and some referred elements may support a phylogenetic position outside crown-group Laridae. The intra-familial relationships of <em>M. rectirostrum</em> remain unclear due to the fragmentary nature of the specimens, despite a resemblance of the maxillary rostrum to some species of gulls. Both new species underscore the diversity and importance of the shorebirds so far described from the Early Miocene St Bathans Fauna.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"90 ","pages":"Pages 45-57"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143927441","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Foreword for the Proceedings of the 10th International Meeting of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution","authors":"Francisco J. Serrano ,&nbsp;Luis M. Chiappe ,&nbsp;Ursula B. Göhlich","doi":"10.1016/j.geobios.2025.03.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.geobios.2025.03.001","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55116,"journal":{"name":"Geobios","volume":"90 ","pages":"Pages 1-4"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143927437","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}