Nature Communications (Mar 2019)

An Early Cretaceous enantiornithine (Aves) preserving an unlaid egg and probable medullary bone

  • Alida M. Bailleul,
  • Jingmai O’Connor,
  • Shukang Zhang,
  • Zhiheng Li,
  • Qiang Wang,
  • Matthew C. Lamanna,
  • Xufeng Zhu,
  • Zhonghe Zhou

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-09259-x
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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The fossil record of the reproductive traits of early birds is limited. Here, Bailleul and colleagues describe the Cretaceous enantiornithine bird Avimaia schweitzerae, which preserves an unlaid egg in the abdominal cavity and putative medullary bone.