Artículo
A Mesozoic bird from Gondwana preserving feathers
De Souza Carvalho, Ismar; Novas, Fernando Emilio
; Agnolin, Federico
; Isasi, Marcelo Pablo
; Freitas, Francisco I.; Andrade, José A.
Fecha de publicación:
06/2015
Editorial:
Nature
Revista:
Nature Communications
ISSN:
2041-1723
Idioma:
Inglés
Tipo de recurso:
Artículo publicado
Clasificación temática:
Resumen
The fossil record of birds in the Mesozoic of Gondwana is mostly based on isolated and often poorly preserved specimens, none of which has preserved details on feather anatomy. We provide the description of a fossil bird represented by a skeleton with feathers from the Early Cretaceous of Gondwana (NE Brazil). The specimen sheds light on the homology and 3D structure of the rachis-dominated feathers, previously known from two-dimensional slabs. The rectrices exhibit a row of rounded spots, probably corresponding to some original colour pattern. The specimen supports the identification of the feather scapus as the rachis, which is notably robust and elliptical in cross-section. In spite of its juvenile nature, the tail plumage resembles the feathering of adult individuals of modern birds. Documentation of rachis-dominated tail in South American enantiornithines broadens the paleobiogeographic distribution of basal birds with this tail feather morphotype, up to now only reported from China.
Palabras clave:
Cratoavis cearensis
,
Bacia do Araripe
,
Ave fóssil
,
Brasil
Archivos asociados
Licencia
Identificadores
Colecciones
Articulos(MACNBR)
Articulos de MUSEO ARG.DE CS.NAT "BERNARDINO RIVADAVIA"
Articulos de MUSEO ARG.DE CS.NAT "BERNARDINO RIVADAVIA"
Citación
De Souza Carvalho, Ismar; Novas, Fernando Emilio; Agnolin, Federico; Isasi, Marcelo Pablo; Freitas, Francisco I.; et al.; A Mesozoic bird from Gondwana preserving feathers; Nature; Nature Communications; 6; 6-2015; 1-5
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