Contrasting Patterns of Sensory Adaptation in Living and Extinct Flightless Birds
Contrasting Patterns of Sensory Adaptation in Living and Extinct Flightless Birds
复制标题
DOI：
10.3390/d13110538
复制
发表时间：
2021-10
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
P. Johnston;Kieren J. Mitchell
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
P. Johnston;Kieren J. Mitchell
鸟类的颅骨解剖受到各种面部、肌肉、感觉和中枢神经结构的竞争(或互补)要求和成本的限制。然而，这些限制在有飞行的鸟类和不会飞行的鸟类中可能起不同的作用。我们研究了四种不会飞的鸟类的头部感觉器官的形态：新西兰的Kiwi(Apteryx)，Kakapo(Strigophabroptilus)和已灭绝的MOA(Dinornithiformes)，以及马达加斯加已灭绝的象鸟(Aepyornithidae)。巩膜环和眼睛的测量表明，高地Moa(Megalapteryx Didinus)是昼夜活动的，而Kakapo的测量结果与夜间一致。新西兰人是嗅觉专家，尽管我们在这里假设鼻后嗅觉是这个血统中占主导地位的嗅觉途径。我们认为，陆地上的Moa和Aepyornithys也是嗅觉专家；前者还显示了与机械接收有关的突出的嘴尖感觉器官。最后，骨内耳蜗管的相对大小表明，高原摩亚具有发达的听力敏感区，而猕猴桃、卡卡波和无翼鸟的敏感度降低。总而言之，我们的结果揭示了现存和灭绝的不会飞的鸟类之间不同的感觉策略。对现存鸟类的感觉能力和颅骨解剖进行更详细的描述，可能会提高我们对化石类群的感觉能力做出准确推断的能力。
Avian cranial anatomy is constrained by the competing (or complementary) requirements and costs of various facial, muscular, sensory, and central neural structures. However, these constraints may operate differently in flighted versus flightless birds. We investigated cranial sense organ morphology in four lineages of flightless birds: kiwi (Apteryx), the Kakapo (Strigops habroptilus), and the extinct moa (Dinornithiformes) from New Zealand; and the extinct elephant birds from Madagascar (Aepyornithidae). Scleral ring and eye measurements suggest that the Upland Moa (Megalapteryx didinus) was diurnal, while measurements for the Kakapo are consistent with nocturnality. Kiwi are olfactory specialists, though here we postulate that retronasal olfaction is the dominant olfactory route in this lineage. We suggest that the Upland Moa and aepyornithids were also olfactory specialists; the former additionally displaying prominent bill tip sensory organs implicated in mechanoreception. Finally, the relative size of the endosseous cochlear duct revealed that the Upland Moa had a well-developed hearing sensitivity range, while the sensitivity of the kiwi, Kakapo, and aepyornithids was diminished. Together, our results reveal contrasting sensory strategies among extant and extinct flightless birds. More detailed characterisation of sensory capacities and cranial anatomy in extant birds may refine our ability to make accurate inferences about the sensory capacities of fossil taxa.