MORPHOLOGY, PHYLOGENETIC TAXONOMY, AND SYSTEMATICS OF ICHTHYORNIS AND APATORNIS (AVIALAE: ORNITHURAE) [PDF]
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 2004 Abstract Charles Darwin commented that Ichthyornis, as one of the “toothed birds” from the Late Cretaceous of Kansas, offered some of “the best support to the theory of evolution” (in litt., C. Darwin to O.C. Marsh, August 31, 1880). Ichthyornis figures no less prominently today.
exaly +2 more sources
Re-evaluation of the Haarlem Archaeopteryx and the radiation of maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs. [PDF]
BMC Evol Biol, 2017 Archaeopteryx is an iconic fossil that has long been pivotal for our understanding of the origin of birds. Remains of this important taxon have only been found in the Late Jurassic lithographic limestones of Bavaria, Germany.
Foth C, Rauhut OWM.
europepmc +4 more sources
A non-archaeopterygid avialan theropod from the Late Jurassic of southern Germany. [PDF]
Elife, 2019 The Late Jurassic 'Solnhofen Limestones' are famous for their exceptionally preserved fossils, including the urvogel Archaeopteryx, which has played a pivotal role in the discussion of bird origins.
Rauhut OW, Tischlinger H, Foth C.
europepmc +5 more sources
Multiphase progenetic development shaped the brain of flying archosaurs. [PDF]
Sci Rep, 2019 The growing availability of virtual cranial endocasts of extinct and extant vertebrates has fueled the quest for endocranial characters that discriminate between phylogenetic groups and resolve their neural significances.
Beyrand V +7 more
europepmc +3 more sources
The phylogenetic affinities of the bizarre Late Cretaceous Romanian theropod Balaur bondoc (Dinosauria, Maniraptora): dromaeosaurid or flightless bird? [PDF]
PeerJ, 2015 The exceptionally well-preserved Romanian dinosaur Balaur bondoc is the most complete theropod known to date from the Upper Cretaceous of Europe. Previous studies of this remarkable taxon have included its phylogenetic interpretation as an aberrant ...
Andrea Cau, Tom Brougham, Darren Naish
doaj +2 more sources
A new ornithurine from the Early Cretaceous of China sheds light on the evolution of early ecological and cranial diversity in birds [PDF]
PeerJ, 2016 Despite the increasing number of exceptional feathered fossils discovered in the Late Jurassic and Cretaceous of northeastern China, representatives of Ornithurae, a clade that includes comparatively-close relatives of crown clade Aves (extant birds) and
Jiandong Huang +5 more
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Novel Quantification of Eggshell Surfaces in <i>Dromaius novaehollandiae</i> With Implications for the Fossil Eggshells of Oviraptorosauria (Dinosauria). [PDF]
Ecol EvolWe have developed a new, quantitative method of assessing the variation on paleosurfaces. This method uses functions from the molaR package of R, including new functions detailed here. This paper tests the functions on the eggshell surfaces of extant emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) and fossil oviraptorosaur eggs of the ootaxon Macroelongatoolithus ...
Hedge J, Bender E, Zanno LE.
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BMC Biology, 2022 Background Birds are key indicator species in extant ecosystems, and thus we would expect extinct birds to provide insights into the nature of ancient ecosystems. However, many aspects of extinct bird ecology, particularly their diet, remain obscure. One
Case Vincent Miller +4 more
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Cautionary tales on the use of proxies to estimate body size and form of extinct animals. [PDF]
Ecol EvolReconstructing the body size and form of extinct animals is of vital importance to our understanding of macroevolution and palaeontology. This is often done using anatomical proxies where extinct species are known only from fragmentary remains. However, there are many limitations influencing the selection of proxy taxa that are frequently overlooked ...
Gayford JH +7 more
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