这种化石填补了鸟类进化中的关键差距
1Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York 10024-5192, USA.
Nature
|February 24, 2001
概括
来自蒙古的新化石鸟,阿普萨拉维斯 (Apsaravis ukhaana) 提供了关于白纪晚期鸟类进化的关键见解. 这种保存良好的标本揭示了早期鸟类 (Aves) 的多样化.
科学领域:
- 古生物学的古生物学
- 进化生物学 进化生物学
- 脊椎动物动物学 脊椎动物动物学
背景情况:
- 接近所有活着的鸟类 (Aves) 辐射的进化时期,化石证据几乎没有代表.
- 中世鸟类的发现主要集中在特定的群体上,在了解早期鸟类多样化方面留下了空白.
- 像蒙古的Ukhaa Tolgod这样的大陆化石遗址对于发现过渡分类来说至关重要.
研究的目的:
- 描述一个新的,特别保存的中生代鸟类鸟类类从蒙古的白纪晚期.
- 提供新的数据来评估整个Avialae的形态演变.
- 解决有关鸟类进化的关键问题,包括家族遗传关系和古生态学.
主要方法:
- 挖掘和详细的形态分析的新化石鸟标本从乌卡托尔戈德,蒙古.
- 与已知的中生代和现存的鸟类种群进行比较的解剖学研究.
- 根据化石证据进行的遗传学和古生态学解释.
主要成果:
- 发现和描述Apsaravis ukhaana,这是一个多世纪以来发现的最完整的中生代鸟类标本.
- 该标本为了解Enantiornithes和Sauriurae.e的单提供了关键数据.
- 证据可能会挑战现存鸟类中期姐妹种群的专属近岸/海洋息地假设.
结论:
- 阿普萨拉维斯乌卡纳 (Apsaravis ukhaana) 代表了对鸟类进化在关键时期的理解的重要补充,此前的样本不足.
- 这一发现对解决早期鸟类的遗传学不确定性有意义.
- 这一发现有助于更细致的了解古生态学和中生代鸟类的飞行进化.
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