Medullary bone in an Early Cretaceous enantiornithine bird and discussion regarding its identification in fossils

Jingmai O’Connor; Gregory M. Erickson; Mark Norell; Alida M. Bailleul; Han Hu; Zhonghe Zhou

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-07621-z

Nature Communications (Dec 2018)

Medullary bone in an Early Cretaceous enantiornithine bird and discussion regarding its identification in fossils

Jingmai O’Connor,
Gregory M. Erickson,
Mark Norell,
Alida M. Bailleul,
Han Hu,
Zhonghe Zhou

Affiliations

Jingmai O’Connor: Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Gregory M. Erickson: Department of Biological Science, Florida State University
Mark Norell: Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History
Alida M. Bailleul: Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Han Hu: Zoology, University of New England
Zhonghe Zhou: Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07621-z
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 9, no. 1
pp. 1 – 8

Abstract

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Medullary bone is used by modern female birds as a calcium reservoir for eggshell production. Here, O’Connor and colleagues propose criteria for identifying medullary bone in fossils and report medullary bone from a Cretaceous enantiornithine bird fossil.

Published in Nature Communications

ISSN: 2041-1723 (Online)
Publisher: Nature Portfolio
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

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