Recently, a new bird fossil site was discovered near Sihedang Town, Lingyuan City, Liaoning Province. Initially, it was reported that all the bird fossils produced at this site belong to the same modern bird: Iteravis huchzermeyeri ). The bird fossil origins of the Early Cretaceous are generally dominated by enantiornithine fossil materials, both in terms of quantity and species diversity. Therefore, the Sihedang fossil site is one of the very few found so far that is dominated by modern ornithomorphs. One of the earliest sites for bird fossils from the Early Cretaceous.
Recently, Hu Han and Zou Jingmei from Zhou Zhonghe’s research group at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, reported the first enantiornith specimen from this site in the British Journal of Systematic Paleontology. And based on this, a new genus and species Monoenantiornis sihedangia was established. The discovery of this enantiornithium provides important evidence for the diversity of birds at the Sihedang site, and also provides important clues to explore the order of composite bone healing of enantiornithes in the Early Cretaceous.
In order to reduce weight and strengthen the bones required for flight, the level of bone healing and degeneration in living birds is much higher than that of other animal groups. In the oldest and most primitive bird, Archaeopteryx, all these composite bones are absent. heal. In basal birds that are slightly more advanced than Archeopteryx, bone healing varies, while the more diverse enantiornithids and anthoornithids simultaneously show a broader trend of bone healing.
The newly discovered Sihedang holotype specimen was in a never-discovered, special and rare ontogenetic stage when it died. Its middle cartilage had ossified but had not yet healed with other proximal tarsals and tibiae, showing that The bone healing pattern is similar to that of members of the order Imornites. In order to explore the composite bone healing sequence of enantiornithes, this study selected published enantiornithine specimens representing different ontogenetic stages, and observed and studied the healing conditions of the five main composite bones and the sternum in these specimens, and concluded that made a preliminary conclusion about the healing sequence of the Early Cretaceous enantiornithine composite bones: most Early Cretaceous enantiornithin specimens can be classified into four main ontogenetic stages: all bones are not healed; sacral vertebrae and pygophyseal bones Healing; tarsal healing; tibiotarsal and carpometacarpal healing.
This research was funded by the 973 Project of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
Figure 1 Photos and line drawings of the holotype specimen of Solitarius sihedang (photo provided by Hu Han)
Figure 2 Ecological restoration of the Sihedang Solitary Bird (painted by Guo Xiaocong)
animal tags： birds fossil archaeopteryx
you may also like
Modern argali sheep (Ovis) are widely distributed in a series of mountain ranges such as the Caucasus, Himalayas, Tibetan Plateau, Tianshan-Altai Mountains, Eastern Siberia, and the Rocky Mountains of North America. In Eurasia, argali fossils have only been found in small amount...
Recently, PLoS ONE reported online that Platylomaspis serratus gen. et sp. nov., the earliest multi-branched fish discovered in the Silurian System of the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang, China, will The origin of multibranched fishes advanced from the Early Devonian to the Silurian Landoverian, abou...
Regalerpeton weichangensis is a type of tailed amphibian from the Early Cretaceous in Weichang, Hebei Province. Recently, the research team of researcher Wang Yuan from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology conducted research on 8 newly discovered fossil materials, and revised and supplemented th...
What Animal Am I? Discover Your Spirit Animal and Personality ConnectionHave you ever wondered, "What animal am I?" It's a question that sparks curiosity and taps into the deeper connection between humans and the natural world. Animals often symbolize specific traits, behaviors, and en...
Almost at the same time as the origin of marsupials, another more progressive mammal differentiated from the ancient beasts. The allantoic membrane they inherited from the eggs of their ancient reptilian ancestors came into contact with their mother's uterine lining, forming their unique plac...
How birds, the descendants of dinosaurs, escaped the mass extinction event 65 million years ago has always been a question that scientists are eager to answer. A large amount of volcanic ash caused by meteorites impacting the earth and frequent volcanic activities filled the atmosphere, causi...
Although Anderson noticed as early as 1921 that there were some white bladed vein quartz fragments at the site where the Peking Man fossils were later unearthed (later known as the "First Site"), although, since 1927, the first site has been Such stone flakes were often found after large-scal...
In the North American continent during the early Eocene 50 million years ago, a fox-sized herbivore emerged from the primitive arthropods. It was called Eohorse. In fact, it was not only the ancestor of modern horses, but also It is the earliest type of the entire group of odd-dactyl animals...
Email: jsset#163.com (change # to @) Please indicate your purpose of visit! Guangdong ICP No. 2022053326 XML| map| Chinese
