Asteriornis

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Asteriornis
Temporal range: Late Maastrichtian
66.8–66.7  Ma
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Asteriornis.svg
Skull in lateral view
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Infraclass: Neognathae
Clade: Pangalloanserae
Genus:† Asteriornis
Field et al. 2020
Type species
†Asteriornis maastrichtensis
Field et al. 2020

Asteriornis ("Asteria's bird" [1] ) is an extinct genus of bird from the Late Cretaceous of Belgium which is known from a single species, Asteriornis maastrichtensis. It was closely related to birds of the extant superorder Galloanserae such as chickens and ducks. Members of the genus were small, long-legged birds (~394 grams [13.9 oz]) [1] [2] that lived near the coastline and co-existed with more "primitive" types of birds such as Ichthyornis. Asteriornis is one of the oldest-known birds irrefutably belonging to the group Neornithes, which encompasses all modern birds. It possesses characteristics of both galliformes (chicken-like birds) and anseriformes (duck-like birds), indicating its position as a close relative of the last common ancestor for both groups. [1] [3]

Contents

Asteriornis may shed light on why Neornithes were the only dinosaurs to survive the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. Its coexistence with non-neornithean birds such as Ichthyornis implies that competition was not a primary factor for the extinction of non-neornitheans, which resembled modern birds in most respects but died out with other non-avian dinosaurs. Small size, [4] a terrestrial lifestyle, [5] and a generalist diet [6] have all been inferred as ecological advantages possessed by early neornithes, allowing them to survive and diversify in the wake of the extinction. [3] [7] Asteriornis fulfills these qualities, suggesting that such suspicions were justified. [1] Asteriornis is also evidence against a different hypothesis stating that modern birds originated from southern continents. This was supported by biogeographic ancestral reconstructions using phylogenies [8] and the discovery of Vegavis (a possible neornithean from Antarctica), [9] but Asteriornis's presence in Europe suggests that modern birds may have been widespread in northern continents in their early evolution. [1]

Discovery and naming

Asteriornis is based on specimen NHMM 2013 008, held in the Maastricht Natural History Museum (Dutch: Natuurhistorisch Museum Maastricht), which consists of an almost complete skull and fragments of leg bones and a radius. It was retrieved from four blocks of sediment found at the CBR-Romontbos quarry near Eben-Emael in the Maastricht Formation of Belgium, [1] and was first unearthed in 2000, [10] by amateur paleontologist Maarten van Dinther, [11] who donated it to the museum. [1] This geological formation is the namesake of the Maastrichtian stage, which was the last stage of the Cretaceous period and the Mesozoic era. It is dated to around 66.8 to 66.7 million years old, [12] less than a million years before the arrival of the asteroid that caused the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, killed off all non-avian dinosaurs (and many other animals), and began the Cenozoic era. [1]

The genus name, Asteriornis, was constructed from ornis, the Greek word for bird, [13] and from Asteria, a titan from Greek mythology, who was associated with falling stars, and about whom there is a famous myth in which she transforms herself into a quail. The Asteri part of genus name thus alludes to the Chicxulub impactor (a "falling star"), and also alludes to quails which are members of the galloanserans. The species name A. maastrichtensis is named after the Maastricht Formation. [1] The researchers who discovered and described the fossil gave Asteriornis the nickname "Wonderchicken", which was picked up by various news outlets. [10] [14]

Description

Life restoration Asteriornis Life Restoration.png
Life restoration

The beak was slightly downcurved and lightweight. Unlike galloanserans, the beak did not have any specialized connections to the rest of the skull, nor a hooked tip. Instead its front tip was slightly rounded. The skull was narrowest over the orbits (eye sockets), where the frontal bones were incised by a V-shaped part of the nasal bones. The bones forming the jaw joint were very galloanseran-like. The quadrate bone (the cranium's contribution to the jaw joint) connected to the skull roof via two pronounced knobs, which were adjacent to a third smaller knob, the tuberculum subcapitulare. The mandible (lower jaw) connected to the quadrate with a pair of sockets, and the rear end of the lower jaw had a large hooked rearward-facing retroarticular process as well as a smaller inward-facing medial process. All of these characteristics are considered unique to (or at least most common in) galloanserans. [1]

In some respects the skull seems more similar to galliform birds such as chickens and pheasants. These include unfused snout bones and nasal bones which fork in front of the eyes. In other respects it resembles anseriform birds such as ducks and geese. Such features include the hooked retroarticular process of the jaw and a postorbital process (the portion of bone forming the rear edge of the eye socket) which curves forward at its lower extent. These demonstrate a principle of evolution that animals close to the common ancestor of two groups share some similarities with each group. [1]

The radius fragment flattens and widens towards the wrist, where it possesses a large hooked bump. Leg bones are elongated and slender, similar in proportions and structure to modern ground-living birds. The femur has well-developed muscle ridges and a large, angular medial condyle. The tibiotarsus is widest towards the knee, while the tarsometatarsus is thinner and covered with ridges. [1]

Classification

A phylogenetic analysis placed Asteriornis near the base of Galloanserae, an expansive superorder containing birds such as chickens, ducks, pheasants, and other types of fowl and gamebirds. The precise placement varied based on whether the analysis used parsimony or Bayesian protocol. Parsimony placed it as the sister taxon to Galloanserae, meaning that it was a distant relative of the last common ancestor of chickens and ducks. Bayesian protocol instead placed it within Galloanserae, specifically as the sister taxon to Galliformes. This means that it was more closely related to chickens than to ducks, but also that was not a direct ancestor of modern chicken-like birds. [1]

Classifying Asteriornis as a relative of chickens and ducks means that it is unequivocally a neornithean. This is important because Neornithes originated at the last common ancestor of all living birds, and corresponds to the term "bird" as it refers to modern-day animals. Pre-neornithean birds such as Ichthyornis, enantiornitheans, or Archaeopteryx generally resemble modern birds but retain primitive features such as teeth or wing claws. [3] Neornithean fossils are extremely rare from the Mesozoic age, and are generally fragmentary or poorly described. Vegavis from the Late Cretaceous (~66.5 Ma) of Antarctica was originally described as a relative of ducks and geese, [9] but this classification is controversial and some paleontologists do not consider it a proper neornithean.[ citation needed ]Asteriornis is based on diagnostic and well-preserved skull material and its status is less unstable, so it can be considered the oldest undisputed fossil of a modern-style neornithean bird. [1]

At least one study in 2021 has recovered Asteriornis as a paleognath, albeit "with limited support". [15] Subsequent studies still support Asterornis as a neornithean closely related to or within Galloanserae based on morphometric and phylogenetic analyses. [16] [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dinosaur</span> Archosaurian reptiles that dominated the Mesozoic Era

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is a subject of active research. They became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event 201.3 mya and their dominance continued throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record shows that birds are feathered dinosaurs, having evolved from earlier theropods during the Late Jurassic epoch, and are the only dinosaur lineage known to have survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event approximately 66 mya. Dinosaurs can therefore be divided into avian dinosaurs—birds—and the extinct non-avian dinosaurs, which are all dinosaurs other than birds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fowl</span> Superorder of birds

Fowl are birds belonging to one of two biological orders, namely the gamefowl or landfowl (Galliformes) and the waterfowl (Anseriformes). Anatomical and molecular similarities suggest these two groups are close evolutionary relatives; together, they form the fowl clade which is scientifically known as Galloanserae or Galloanseres. This clade is also supported by morphological and DNA sequence data as well as retrotransposon presence/absence data.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enantiornithes</span> Extinct clade of dinosaurs

The Enantiornithes, also known as enantiornithines or enantiornitheans in literature, are a group of extinct avialans, the most abundant and diverse group known from the Mesozoic era. Almost all retained teeth and clawed fingers on each wing, but otherwise looked much like modern birds externally. Over eighty species of Enantiornithes have been named, but some names represent only single bones, so it is likely that not all are valid. The Enantiornithes became extinct at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, along with Hesperornithes and all other non-avian dinosaurs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hesperornithes</span> Extinct clade of aquatic avialans closely related to modern birds

Hesperornithes is an extinct and highly specialized group of aquatic avialans closely related to the ancestors of modern birds. They inhabited both marine and freshwater habitats in the Northern Hemisphere, and include genera such as Hesperornis, Parahesperornis, Baptornis, Enaliornis, and Potamornis, all strong-swimming, predatory divers. Many of the species most specialized for swimming were completely flightless. The largest known hesperornithean, Canadaga arctica, may have reached a maximum adult length of 2.2 metres (7.2 ft).

<i>Vegavis</i> Extinct genus of birds

Vegavis is a genus of extinct bird that lived during the Late Cretaceous of Antarctica, some 68 to 66 mya. Among modern birds, most studies show that Vegavis is most closely related to ducks and geese (Anatidae), but it is not considered to be a direct ancestor of them, although other studies question these results.

<i>Ichthyornis</i> Extinct genus of bird-like dinosaurs

Ichthyornis is an extinct genus of toothy seabird-like ornithuran from the late Cretaceous period of North America. Its fossil remains are known from the chalks of Alberta, Alabama, Kansas, New Mexico, Saskatchewan, and Texas, in strata that were laid down in the Western Interior Seaway during the Turonian through Campanian ages, about 95–83.5 million years ago. Ichthyornis is a common component of the Niobrara Formation fauna, and numerous specimens have been found.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palaeognathae</span> Infraclass of birds

Palaeognathae is an infraclass of birds, called paleognaths or palaeognaths, within the class Aves of the clade Archosauria. It is one of the two extant infraclasses of birds, the other being Neognathae, both of which form Neornithes. Palaeognathae contains five extant branches of flightless lineages, termed ratites, and one flying lineage, the Neotropic tinamous. There are 47 species of tinamous, five of kiwis (Apteryx), three of cassowaries (Casuarius), one of emus (Dromaius), two of rheas (Rhea) and two of ostriches (Struthio). Recent research has indicated that paleognaths are monophyletic but the traditional taxonomic split between flightless and flighted forms is incorrect; tinamous are within the ratite radiation, meaning flightlessness arose independently multiple times via parallel evolution.

<i>Yanornis</i> Extinct genus of birds

Yanornis is an extinct genus of fish-eating Early Cretaceous birds. Two species have been described, both from Liaoning province, China: Yanornis martini, based on several fossils found in the 120-million-year-old Jiufotang Formation at Chaoyang, and Yanornis guozhangi, from the 124-million-year-old Yixian Formation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neognathae</span> Infraclass of birds

Neognathae is an infraclass of birds, called neognaths, within the class Aves of the clade Archosauria. Neognathae includes the majority of living birds; the exceptions being the tinamous and the flightless ratites, which belong instead to the sister taxon Palaeognathae. There are nearly 10,000 living species of neognaths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evolution of birds</span> Derivation of birds from a dinosaur precursor

The evolution of birds began in the Jurassic Period, with the earliest birds derived from a clade of theropod dinosaurs named Paraves. Birds are categorized as a biological class, Aves. For more than a century, the small theropod dinosaur Archaeopteryx lithographica from the Late Jurassic period was considered to have been the earliest bird. Modern phylogenies place birds in the dinosaur clade Theropoda. According to the current consensus, Aves and a sister group, the order Crocodilia, together are the sole living members of an unranked reptile clade, the Archosauria. Four distinct lineages of bird survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago, giving rise to ostriches and relatives (Palaeognathae), waterfowl (Anseriformes), ground-living fowl (Galliformes), and "modern birds" (Neoaves).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ichthyornithes</span> Extinct clade of dinosaurs

Ichthyornithes is an extinct group of toothed avialans very closely related to the common ancestor of all modern birds. They are known from fossil remains found throughout the late Cretaceous period of North America, though only two genera, Ichthyornis and Janavis, are represented by complete enough fossils to have been named. Ichthyornitheans became extinct at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, along with enantiornitheans, all other non-avian dinosaurs, and many other animal and plant groups.

Polarornis is a genus of prehistoric bird, possibly an anserimorph. It contains a single species Polarornis gregorii, known from incomplete remains of one individual found on Seymour Island, Antarctica, in rocks which are dated to the Late Cretaceous.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pelagornithidae</span> Extinct family of seabirds

The Pelagornithidae, commonly called pelagornithids, pseudodontorns, bony-toothed birds, false-toothed birds or pseudotooth birds, are a prehistoric family of large seabirds. Their fossil remains have been found all over the world in rocks dating between the Early Paleocene and the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary.

Limenavis is a prehistoric bird genus from the Late Cretaceous. It lived about 70 million years ago, around the Campanian-Maastrichtian boundary. Known from several broken bones, the remains of the only known species Limenavis patagonica were found in rocks of the "lower member" of the Allen Formation at Salitral Moreno, 20 km south of General Roca, Río Negro (Argentina). It is the closest relative, in the fossil record, of the modern birds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ornithurae</span> Clade of dinosaurs

Ornithurae is a natural group which includes the common ancestor of Ichthyornis, Hesperornis, and all modern birds as well as all other descendants of that common ancestor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neoaves</span> Clade of birds

Neoaves is a clade that consists of all modern birds with the exception of Palaeognathae and Galloanserae. Almost 95% of the roughly 10,000 known species of extant birds belong to the Neoaves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pangalliformes</span> Clade of birds

Pangalliformes is the scientific name of a provisional clade of birds within the group Galloanserae. It is defined as all birds more closely related to chickens than to ducks, and includes all modern chickens, turkeys, pheasants, and megapodes, as well as extinct species that do not fall within the crown group Galliformes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evolution of reptiles</span> Origin and diversification of reptiles through geologic time

Reptiles arose about 320 million years ago during the Carboniferous period. Reptiles, in the traditional sense of the term, are defined as animals that have scales or scutes, lay land-based hard-shelled eggs, and possess ectothermic metabolisms. So defined, the group is paraphyletic, excluding endothermic animals like birds that are descended from early traditionally-defined reptiles. A definition in accordance with phylogenetic nomenclature, which rejects paraphyletic groups, includes birds while excluding mammals and their synapsid ancestors. So defined, Reptilia is identical to Sauropsida.

<i>Anzu wyliei</i> Genus of caenagnathid dinosaur

Anzu is a monospecific genus of caenagnathid dinosaur from North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now the Hell Creek Formation. The type species and only species, Anzu wyliei is known from numerous skeletons that preserve cranial and postcranial elements. It was named in 2014 by Matthew C. Lamanna, Hans-Dieter Sues, Emma R. Schachner, and Tyler R. Lyson.

Janavis is an extinct toothed bird, belonging to the Ichthyornithes, from the Late Cretaceous of Belgium. The genus has one named species, Janavis finalidens that was discovered in the 1990s, reported in 2002, and described in 2022. Recovered almost simultaneously from the same area and age as Asteriornis maastrichtensis, then the oldest known modern bird, it provides information on the evolution and divergence of basal and modern birds, especially on the evolutionary modifications of bird skulls.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Field, Daniel J.; Benito, Juan; Chen, Albert; Jagt, John W. M.; Ksepka, Daniel T. (18 March 2020). "Late Cretaceous neornithine from Europe illuminates the origins of crown birds". Nature. 579 (7799): 397–401. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2096-0. ISSN   1476-4687. PMID   32188952. S2CID   212937591.
  2. ↑ Field, Daniel J.; Lynner, Colton; Brown, Christian; Darroch, Simon A. F. (2013-11-29). "Skeletal Correlates for Body Mass Estimation in Modern and Fossil Flying Birds". PLOS One . 8 (11): e82000. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...882000F. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0082000 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   3843728 . PMID   24312392.
  3. 1 2 3 Padian, Kevin (18 March 2020). "Poultry through time". Nature. 579 (7799): 351–352. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00766-2. PMID   32188944.
  4. ↑ Berv, Jacob S.; Field, Daniel J. (2018-01-01). "Genomic Signature of an Avian Lilliput Effect across the K-Pg Extinction". Systematic Biology. 67 (1): 1–13. doi:10.1093/sysbio/syx064. ISSN   1063-5157. PMC   5837713 . PMID   28973546.
  5. ↑ Field, Daniel J.; Bercovici, Antoine; Berv, Jacob S.; Dunn, Regan; Fastovsky, David E.; Lyson, Tyler R.; Vajda, Vivi; Gauthier, Jacques A. (2018-06-04). "Early Evolution of Modern Birds Structured by Global Forest Collapse at the End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction". Current Biology. 28 (11): 1825–1831.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.04.062 . ISSN   0960-9822. PMID   29804807.
  6. ↑ Larson, Derek W.; Brown, Caleb M.; Evans, David C. (2016-05-23). "Dental Disparity and Ecological Stability in Bird-like Dinosaurs prior to the End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction". Current Biology. 26 (10): 1325–1333. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.03.039 . ISSN   0960-9822. PMID   27112293.
  7. ↑ Ksepka, Daniel T.; Stidham, Thomas A.; Williamson, Thomas E. (2017-07-10). "Early Paleocene landbird supports rapid phylogenetic and morphological diversification of crown birds after the K–Pg mass extinction". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 114 (30): 8047–8052. Bibcode:2017PNAS..114.8047K. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1700188114 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   5544281 . PMID   28696285.
  8. ↑ Claramunt, Santiago; Cracraft, Joel (2015-12-01). "A new time tree reveals Earth history's imprint on the evolution of modern birds". Science Advances. 1 (11): e1501005. Bibcode:2015SciA....1E1005C. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1501005. ISSN   2375-2548. PMC   4730849 . PMID   26824065.
  9. 1 2 Clarke, Julia A.; Tambussi, Claudia P.; Noriega, Jorge I.; Erickson, Gregory M.; Ketcham, Richard A. (20 January 2005). "Definitive fossil evidence for the extant avian radiation in the Cretaceous" (PDF). Nature. 433 (7023): 305–308. Bibcode:2005Natur.433..305C. doi:10.1038/nature03150. ISSN   1476-4687. PMID   15662422. S2CID   4354309.
  10. 1 2 Giamio, Cara (March 18, 2020). "What to Name the Oldest Modern Bird Fossil? Wonderchicken". The New York Times . Archived from the original on March 19, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Oldest fossil 'Wonderchicken' found at Maastricht by Lab Technician Maarten van Dinther".
  12. ↑ Keutgen, Norbert (December 2018). "A bioclast-based astronomical timescale for the Maastrichtian in the type area (southeast Netherlands, northeast Belgium) and stratigraphic implications: the legacy of P.J. Felder". Netherlands Journal of Geosciences. 97 (4): 229–260. doi: 10.1017/njg.2018.15 . ISSN   0016-7746.
  13. ↑ ὄρνις . Liddell, Henry George ; Scott, Robert ; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
  14. ↑ KOUMOUNDOUROS, Tessa (March 20, 2020). "This 'Wonderchicken' Could Be The Oldest Modern Bird Fossil, And a True Survivor". ScienceAlert.com. Archived from the original on March 20, 2020. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
  15. ↑ Torres, Christopher R.; Norell, Mark A.; Clarke, Julia A. (2021). "Bird neurocranial and body mass evolution across the end-Cretaceous mass extinction: The avian brain shape left other dinosaurs behind". Science Advances. 7 (31). Bibcode:2021SciA....7.7099T. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abg7099. PMC   8324052 . PMID   34330706.
  16. ↑ Kuo, Pei-Chen; Benson, Roger B. J.; Field, Daniel J. (2023). "The influence of fossils in macroevolutionary analyses of 3D geometric morphometric data: A case study of galloanseran quadrates". Journal of Morphology. 284 (6): e21594. doi: 10.1002/jmor.21594 . PMID   37183494. S2CID   258367829.
  17. ↑ Brocklehurst, N.; Field, D. J. (2024). "Tip dating and Bayes factors provide insight into the divergences of crown bird clades across the end-Cretaceous mass extinction". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 291 (2016). 20232618. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2023.2618 . PMC   10865003 . PMID   38351798.
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