晚白堊紀鳥類揭示喙的獨特發育
作者:
小柯機器人發布時間:2020/11/27 13:33:56
美國俄亥俄州大學傳統骨科醫學院Patrick M. O』Connor研究組取得一項新突破。他們通過研究馬達加斯加的晚白堊紀鳥類揭示了喙的獨特發育。該研究於2020年11月25日發表於《自然》。
他們描述了一隻烏鴉大小的幹鳥-Falcatakely forsterae gen. et sp. nov.。來自馬達加斯加的晚白堊紀時代,它具有長而深的吻突,這種喙狀形態以前在中生代鳥類中沒有出現過,並且其表面類似於各種冠群鳥類(例如巨嘴鳥)。Falcatakely的吻突由一個擴張的無牙上頜和一個小的帶齒前頜組成。對單個骨元素和三維吻突形狀的形態計量學分析顯示,儘管類似於nonavialan節肢動物,保留了上頜-前頜組織,但其具有像神經鳥氨酸樣的面部發育。Falcatakely中吻突的形狀和高度增加揭示了發育不穩定性的程度和形態差異的增加,這在早期分支的鳥中是沒出現過的。這種表型(和推測的生態學)在幹鳥中的表達強調了鞏固至神經氨酸樣、上頜前佔主導的吻突不是喙增大的進化先決條件。
據了解,中生代鳥類在大小、飛行適應性和羽毛組織上表現出相當大的多樣性,但表現出相對保守的喙形和發育模式。儘管Neornithine(也就是冠狀群)鳥類也表現出對面部發育的限制,但與中生代鳥類相比,它們具有相對多樣的喙形態,與一系列的攝食和行為生態有關。
附:英文原文
Title: Late Cretaceous bird from Madagascar reveals unique development of beaks
Author: Patrick M. OConnor, Alan H. Turner, Joseph R. Groenke, Ryan N. Felice, Raymond R. Rogers, David W. Krause, Lydia J. Rahantarisoa
Issue&Volume: 2020-11-25
Abstract: Mesozoic birds display considerable diversity in size, flight adaptations and feather organization1,2,3,4, but exhibit relatively conserved patterns of beak shape and development5,6,7. Although Neornithine (that is, crown group) birds also exhibit constraint on facial development8,9, they have comparatively diverse beak morphologies associated with a range of feeding and behavioural ecologies, in contrast to Mesozoic birds. Here we describe a crow-sized stem bird, Falcatakely forsterae gen. et sp. nov., from the Late Cretaceous epoch of Madagascar that possesses a long and deep rostrum, an expression of beak morphology that was previously unknown among Mesozoic birds and is superficially similar to that of a variety of crown-group birds (for example, toucans). The rostrum of Falcatakely is composed of an expansive edentulous maxilla and a small tooth-bearing premaxilla. Morphometric analyses of individual bony elements and three-dimensional rostrum shape reveal the development of a neornithine-like facial anatomy despite the retention of a maxilla–premaxilla organization that is similar to that of nonavialan theropods. The patterning and increased height of the rostrum in Falcatakely reveals a degree of developmental lability and increased morphological disparity that was previously unknown in early branching avialans. Expression of this phenotype (and presumed ecology) in a stem bird underscores that consolidation to the neornithine-like, premaxilla-dominated rostrum was not an evolutionary prerequisite for beak enlargement.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2945-x
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2945-x