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A mid-Cretaceous enantiornithine (Aves) hatchling preserved in Burmese amber with unusual plumage
Institution:1. State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China;2. School of the Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China;3. Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing 100044, China;4. Royal Saskatchewan Museum, Regina, Saskatchewan S4P 4W7, Canada;5. Biology Department, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, Canada;6. Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, 1501 Crestline Drive – Suite 140, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA;7. Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA;8. Department of Exercise and Health Science, University of Taipei, Taipei 11153, China;9. Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Science, 19B Yuquan Rd., Beijing 100049, China;10. Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Box 92, Beichen West Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China
Abstract:Burmese amber has recently provided some detailed glimpses of plumage, soft tissues, and osteology of juvenile enantiornithine birds, but these insights have been restricted to isolated wing apices. Here we describe nearly half of a hatchling individual, based on osteological and soft tissue data obtained from the skull, neck, feet, and wing, and identified as a member of the extinct avian clade Enantiornithes. Preserved soft tissue provides the unique opportunity to observe the external opening of the ear, the eyelid, and fine details of tarsal scutellation. The new amber specimen yields the most complete view of hatchling plumage and integument yet to be recovered from the Cretaceous, including details of pterylosis, feather microstructure, and pigmentation patterns. The hatchling was encapsulated during the earliest stages of its feather production, providing a point for comparisons to other forms of body fossils, as well as isolated feathers found in Cretaceous ambers. The plumage preserves an unusual combination of precocial and altricial features unlike any living hatchling bird, having functional remiges combined with sparse body feathers. Unusual feather morphotypes on the legs, feet, and tail suggest that first generation feathers in the Enantiornithes may have been much more like contour feathers than the natal down observed in many modern birds. However, these regions also preserve filamentous feathers that appear comparable to the protofeathers observed in more primitive theropods. Overall, the new specimen brings a new level of detail to our understanding of the anatomy of the juvenile stages of the most species-rich clade of pre-modern birds and contributes to mounting data that enantiornithine development drastically differed from that of Neornithes.
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