A new confuciusornithid bird with a secondary epiphyseal ossification reveals phylogenetic changes in confuciusornithid flight mode

Renfei Wang; Dongyu Hu; Meisheng Zhang; Shiying Wang; Qi Zhao; Corwin Sullivan; Xing Xu

doi:10.1038/s42003-022-04316-6

Communications Biology (Dec 2022)

A new confuciusornithid bird with a secondary epiphyseal ossification reveals phylogenetic changes in confuciusornithid flight mode

Renfei Wang,
Dongyu Hu,
Meisheng Zhang,
Shiying Wang,
Qi Zhao,
Corwin Sullivan,
Xing Xu

Affiliations

Renfei Wang: College of Earth Sciences, Jilin University
Dongyu Hu: Shenyang Normal University, Paleontological Museum of Liaoning, Key Laboratory for Evolution of Past Life in Northeast Asia, Liaoning Province
Meisheng Zhang: College of Earth Sciences, Jilin University
Shiying Wang: Shenyang Normal University, Paleontological Museum of Liaoning, Key Laboratory for Evolution of Past Life in Northeast Asia, Liaoning Province
Qi Zhao: Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Corwin Sullivan: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta
Xing Xu: Shenyang Normal University, Paleontological Museum of Liaoning, Key Laboratory for Evolution of Past Life in Northeast Asia, Liaoning Province

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-04316-6
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 5, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

Read online

A new species of Confuciusornis, a genus of basal birds from the Early Cretaceous, reveals that these early birds had stronger flight capability and more diverse flight modes than previously expected.

Published in Communications Biology

ISSN: 2399-3642 (Online)
Publisher: Nature Portfolio
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science: Biology (General)
Website: https://www.nature.com/commsbio/

About the journal