Fred Ruhe
Well-known member
Den Creisler informed me about the following:
A new paper in Nature:
Christian Foth, Helmut Tischlinger & Oliver W. M. Rauhut (2014) New specimen of Archaeopteryx provides insights into the evolution of pennaceous feathers.
Nature 511: 79–82 (03 July 2014)
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v511/n7507/full/nature13467.html
Discoveries of bird-like theropod dinosaurs and basal avialans in recent decades have helped to put the iconic 'Urvogel' Archaeopteryx into context and have yielded important new data on the origin and early evolution of feathers. However, the biological context under which pennaceous feathers evolved is still debated. Here we describe a new specimen of Archaeopteryx with extensive feather preservation, not only on the wings and tail, but also on the body and legs. The new specimen shows that the entire body was covered in pennaceous feathers, and that the hindlimbs had long, symmetrical feathers along the tibiotarsus but short feathers on the tarsometatarsus.
Furthermore, the wing plumage demonstrates that several recent interpretations are problematic. An analysis of the phylogenetic distribution of pennaceous feathers on the tail, hindlimb and arms of advanced maniraptorans and basal avialans strongly indicates that these structures evolved in a functional context other than flight, most probably in relation to display, as suggested by some previous studies. Pennaceous feathers thus represented an exaptation and were later, in several lineages and following different patterns, recruited for aerodynamic functions. This indicates that the origin of flight in avialans was more complex than previously thought and might have involved several convergent achievements of aerial abilities.
News stories:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...haeopteryx-fossil-feathers-dinosaurs-science/
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2014/07/02/early-bird-fossil-snapshot-feather-evolution/
Thomas R. Holtz, jr. added to this:
A nice pragmatic aspect of this paper is the new taxon name Pennoraptora: Definition of Pennaraptora: The clade including Oviraptorosauria and Paraves has not yet been named. Since several recent analyses (including the current analysis) have found support for a topology in which these clades form sister taxa to the exclusion of therizinosaurs within Maniraptora, and given that this clade is important for the understanding of feather evolution, it seems plausible to propose a name for this clade. Thus, we suggest the name Pennaraptora (from Latin, penna, contour feather, and raptor, robber) for the clade including Oviraptor philoceratops, Deinonychus antirrhopus and Passer domesticus and all descendants of their most recent common ancestor. Although we are aware that the origin of pennaceous feathers might go back further in theropod phylogeny, we chose this name to emphasize that this is the clade for which we currently know with certainty that pennaceous feathers were present.
If you are interested in the paper send me an e-mail at [email protected]
Enjoy,
Fred Ruhe
A new paper in Nature:
Christian Foth, Helmut Tischlinger & Oliver W. M. Rauhut (2014) New specimen of Archaeopteryx provides insights into the evolution of pennaceous feathers.
Nature 511: 79–82 (03 July 2014)
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v511/n7507/full/nature13467.html
Discoveries of bird-like theropod dinosaurs and basal avialans in recent decades have helped to put the iconic 'Urvogel' Archaeopteryx into context and have yielded important new data on the origin and early evolution of feathers. However, the biological context under which pennaceous feathers evolved is still debated. Here we describe a new specimen of Archaeopteryx with extensive feather preservation, not only on the wings and tail, but also on the body and legs. The new specimen shows that the entire body was covered in pennaceous feathers, and that the hindlimbs had long, symmetrical feathers along the tibiotarsus but short feathers on the tarsometatarsus.
Furthermore, the wing plumage demonstrates that several recent interpretations are problematic. An analysis of the phylogenetic distribution of pennaceous feathers on the tail, hindlimb and arms of advanced maniraptorans and basal avialans strongly indicates that these structures evolved in a functional context other than flight, most probably in relation to display, as suggested by some previous studies. Pennaceous feathers thus represented an exaptation and were later, in several lineages and following different patterns, recruited for aerodynamic functions. This indicates that the origin of flight in avialans was more complex than previously thought and might have involved several convergent achievements of aerial abilities.
News stories:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...haeopteryx-fossil-feathers-dinosaurs-science/
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/d-brief/2014/07/02/early-bird-fossil-snapshot-feather-evolution/
Thomas R. Holtz, jr. added to this:
A nice pragmatic aspect of this paper is the new taxon name Pennoraptora: Definition of Pennaraptora: The clade including Oviraptorosauria and Paraves has not yet been named. Since several recent analyses (including the current analysis) have found support for a topology in which these clades form sister taxa to the exclusion of therizinosaurs within Maniraptora, and given that this clade is important for the understanding of feather evolution, it seems plausible to propose a name for this clade. Thus, we suggest the name Pennaraptora (from Latin, penna, contour feather, and raptor, robber) for the clade including Oviraptor philoceratops, Deinonychus antirrhopus and Passer domesticus and all descendants of their most recent common ancestor. Although we are aware that the origin of pennaceous feathers might go back further in theropod phylogeny, we chose this name to emphasize that this is the clade for which we currently know with certainty that pennaceous feathers were present.
If you are interested in the paper send me an e-mail at [email protected]
Enjoy,
Fred Ruhe
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