AsianScientist (Mar. 11, 2016) – A new species of Cretaceous bird, Chongmingia zhengi, was found in Dapingfang, Liaoning Province, China and sheds light on the early evolution of birds. This discovery was published in Scientific Reports.
Analyses indicate that Chongmingia is basal, or ancestral, to the dominant Mesozoic avian branches Enantiornithes and Ornithuromorpha. Therefore, it represents a new basal avian lineage and adds to our knowledge of the phylogenetic differentiation and morphological diversity in early avian evolution.
This new species, represented by a single new skeleton from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation, was found by a team from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences. It was named after Chongming, a Chinese mythological bird, and mineral magnate Mr. Zheng Xiaoting for his generous contributions to the establishment of the Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature.
The new specimen is a partial skeleton with associated soft tissues and gastroliths, missing the skull and most of the caudal vertebrae. Comparative studies indicate that it is a large non-ornithothoracine bird, and the unique combination of features present in this species demonstrates that numerous evolutionary experimentations took place in the early evolution of powered flight.
“Although our analysis suggests that the new specimen may represent the most phylogenetically basal Cretaceous bird known to date, this phylogenetic hypothesis should be treated with caution given the incomplete preservation of the skeleton and low phylogenetic support values,” said lead author Dr. Wang Min from IVPP.
The article can be found at: Wang et al. (2016) A New Basal Bird from China with Implications for Morphological Diversity in Early Birds.
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Source: Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology.
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