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A NEW BASAL LINEAGE OF EARLY CRETACEOUS BIRDS FROM CHINA AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON THE EVOLUTION OF THE AVIAN TAIL
Author(s) -
GAO CHUNLING,
CHIAPPE LUIS M.,
MENG QINJING,
O’CONNOR JINGMAI K.,
WANG XURI,
CHENG XIAODONG,
LIU JINYUAN
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
palaeontology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.69
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1475-4983
pISSN - 0031-0239
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00793.x
Subject(s) - biology , basal (medicine) , sister group , cretaceous , lineage (genetic) , clade , cladistics , paleontology , evolutionary biology , taxon , zoology , anatomy , phylogenetics , genetics , gene , insulin , endocrinology
We report on a new Early Cretaceous bird from China that sheds significant light on the evolutionary transition between primitive birds with a long bony tail and those with a short tail ending in a pygostyle. A cladistic analysis of basal birds supports the placement of the new fossil as the sister‐taxon of all pygostylians. Possessing a unique hand morphology with a phalangeal formula of 2‐3‐3‐x‐x and a reduced number of caudal vertebrae lacking a pygostyle, the new specimen reveals anatomical information previously unknown and increases the taxonomic diversity of primitive, non‐pygostylian birds. We infer from the specimen that during the evolution of the avian tail, a decrease in relative caudal length and number of vertebrae preceded the distal fusion of caudals into a pygostyle.