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Alcmonavis poeschli gen. et sp. nov. (1 Viewer)

Fred Ruhe

Well-known member
Netherlands
Oliver WM Rauhut, Helmut Tischlinger & Christian Foth, 2019

A non-archaeopterygid avialan theropod from the Late Jurassic of southern Germany

eLife. 8: e43789
doi:10.7554/eLife.43789

Abstract and complete text: https://elifesciences.org/articles/43789

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. Here we describe a new, non-archaeopterygid avialan from the Lower Tithonian Mörnsheim Formation of the Solnhofen Archipelago, Alcmonavis poeschli gen. et sp. nov. Represented by a right wing, Alcmonavis shows several derived characters, including a pronounced attachment for the pectoralis muscle, a pronounced tuberculum bicipitale radii, and a robust second manual digit, indicating that it is a more derived avialan than Archaeopteryx. Several modifications, especially in muscle attachments of muscles that in modern birds are related to the downstroke of the wing, indicate an increased adaptation of the forelimb for active flapping flight in the early evolution of birds. This discovery indicates higher avialan diversity in the Late Jurassic than previously recognized.

Enjoy,

Fred
 
Systematic palaeontology
Theropoda Marsh, 1881
Maniraptora Gauthier, 1986
Avialae Gauthier, 1986
Alcmonavis poeschli gen. et sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:668F42B6-5BDC-4ADF-B271-36C6A43C7DB3

Etymology:

From Alcmona, the old Celtic name of the Altmühl River, which flows through the principal region in which the famous ‘Solnhofen limestones’ are exposed, and avis, from the Greek ‘aves’ for bird. The species name honours Roland Pöschl, who leads the excavations at the Schaudiberg and found the specimen.

Holotype:

SNSB-BSPG 2017 I 133, an almost complete, partly disarticulated skeleton of the right wing.

Locality and horizon:

Old Schöpfel Quarry at the Schaudiberg, Mühlheim, close to Mörnsheim, Bavaria. Mörnsheim Formation, moernsheimensis ammonite horizon of the Hybonotum zone of the Early Tithonian. The specimen comes from a thin layer of marly laminated limestone some 6 m above the contact with the underlying Altmühltal Formation.

Also see https://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=360172

Fred

Overview photograph of holotype specimen of Alcmonavis poeschli gen. et sp. nov., SNSB-BSPG 2017 I 133. Abbreviations: hu, humerus; mc, metacarpus; r, radius; sl, semilunate carpal; ul, ulna; Roman numerals indicate digits and Arabic numerals indicate phalanges of digits. Scale bar is 5 cm.
 

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and avis, from the Greek ‘aves’ for bird.
Not that it's that important in today's context, but of course avis is Latin, not Greek; aves is the plural of the same word.
(This is in fact not even a word that could have been written in Ancient Greek -- the sound 'v' didn't exist in this language, there was no letter for it.)
 
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