A gigantic bird from the Upper Cretaceous of Central Asia
A gigantic bird from the Upper Cretaceous of Central Asia
We describe an enormous Late Cretaceous fossil bird from Kazakhstan, known from a pair of edentulous mandibular rami (greater than 275 mm long), which adds significantly to our knowledge of Mesozoic avian morphological and ecological diversity. A suite of autapomorphies lead us to recognize the specimen as a new taxon. Phylogenetic analysis resolves this giant bird deep within Aves as a basal member of Ornithuromorpha. This Kazakh fossil demonstrates that large body size evolved at least once outside modern birds (Neornithes) and reveals hitherto unexpected trophic diversity within Cretaceous Aves.
Kazakhstan, Aves, pylogeny, Neornithes, anatomy
97-100
Naish, Darren
6cd448f6-99cc-4c45-93d1-bdd24ee3d281
Dyke, Gareth
600ca61e-b40b-4c86-b8ae-13be4e331e94
Cau, Andrea
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Escuillié, Francois
04e7f196-b6dd-4a88-9e05-89571eb1cc43
Godefroit, Pascal
0398d691-da3c-47cd-96be-0ff5ca267597
8 February 2012
Naish, Darren
6cd448f6-99cc-4c45-93d1-bdd24ee3d281
Dyke, Gareth
600ca61e-b40b-4c86-b8ae-13be4e331e94
Cau, Andrea
664e02a9-f4ff-460c-b5ff-2c4c9cc41247
Escuillié, Francois
04e7f196-b6dd-4a88-9e05-89571eb1cc43
Godefroit, Pascal
0398d691-da3c-47cd-96be-0ff5ca267597
Naish, Darren, Dyke, Gareth, Cau, Andrea, Escuillié, Francois and Godefroit, Pascal
(2012)
A gigantic bird from the Upper Cretaceous of Central Asia.
Biology Letters, 8 (1), .
(doi:10.1098/rsbl.2011.0683).
Abstract
We describe an enormous Late Cretaceous fossil bird from Kazakhstan, known from a pair of edentulous mandibular rami (greater than 275 mm long), which adds significantly to our knowledge of Mesozoic avian morphological and ecological diversity. A suite of autapomorphies lead us to recognize the specimen as a new taxon. Phylogenetic analysis resolves this giant bird deep within Aves as a basal member of Ornithuromorpha. This Kazakh fossil demonstrates that large body size evolved at least once outside modern birds (Neornithes) and reveals hitherto unexpected trophic diversity within Cretaceous Aves.
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More information
e-pub ahead of print date: August 2011
Published date: 8 February 2012
Keywords:
Kazakhstan, Aves, pylogeny, Neornithes, anatomy
Organisations:
Ocean Biochemistry & Ecosystems
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 201115
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/201115
ISSN: 1744-9561
PURE UUID: 27f906d3-bf95-4632-853e-e64d1a1aea77
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 25 Oct 2011 16:00
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 04:21
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Contributors
Author:
Darren Naish
Author:
Gareth Dyke
Author:
Andrea Cau
Author:
Francois Escuillié
Author:
Pascal Godefroit
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