Reduced plumage and flight ability of a new Jurassic paravian theropod from China
Reduced plumage and flight ability of a new Jurassic paravian theropod from China
复制标题
来自中国的一种新侏罗纪近鸟类兽脚亚目动物的羽毛和飞行能力下降
DOI：
10.1038/ncomms2389
复制
发表时间：
2013-01-01
影响因子：
16.6
通讯作者：
Claeys, Philippe
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Godefroit, Pascal;Demuynck, Helena;Claeys, Philippe
辽西早白垩世热河群中的兽脚类化石种类繁多。最近，在同一地区的中晚侏罗世跳鸡山组中又发现了解剖学上不同的羽毛类化石。包括这些标本在内的系统发育假说对始祖鸟在鸟类系统发育中的关键地位提出了挑战。本文报道了一个产于辽宁省建昌县髻山组的基齿类化石--Anchiornis（被认为是姐妹类群）。始祖鸟的四肢和尾巴上的羽毛不如近鸟龙和其他恐爪龙类那么广泛。始祖鸟的羽毛减少，足爪短而不弯曲，因此能够不受阻碍地奔跑（脚大而不弯曲，对于近鸟龙来说，爬行运动可能是个问题）。始祖鸟增加了侏罗纪小型恐龙的已知多样性，表明具有相似身体结构的类群可能在同一生态系统中占据不同的生态位，并为飞行的起源提出了一个更复杂的图景。
Feathered theropods were diverse in the Early Cretaceous Jehol Group of western Liaoning Province, China. Recently, anatomically distinct feathered taxa have been discovered in the older Middle-Late Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation in the same region. Phylogenetic hypotheses including these specimens have challenged the pivotal position ofArchaeopteryxin bird phylogeny. Here we report a basal troodontid from the Tiaojishan Formation that resemblesAnchiornis, also from Jianchang County (regarded as sister-taxa). The feathers ofEosinopteryxare less extensive on the limbs and tail thanAnchiornisand other deinonychosaurians. With reduced plumage and short uncurved pedal claws,Eosinopteryxwould have been able to run unimpeded (with large foot remiges cursorial locomotion was likely problematic forAnchiornis).Eosinopteryxincreases the known diversity of small-bodied dinosaurs in the Jurassic, shows that taxa with similar body plans could occupy different niches in the same ecosystem and suggests a more complex picture for the origin of flight.