来自怀俄明州的原始的早期欧纪蝙蝠和飞行和回声定位的进化
Nancy B Simmons1, Kevin L Seymour, Jörg Habersetzer
1American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, New York 10024, USA. simmons@amnh.org
Nature
|February 14, 2008
概括
一个新发现的新生代早期蝙蝠化石为早期蝙蝠进化提供了洞察力. 这种原始的蝙蝠可以飞行,但很可能缺乏回声定位,支持"飞行先"的假设.
科学领域:
- 古生物学的古生物学
- 进化生物学 进化生物学
- 哺乳动物学 哺乳动物学
背景情况:
- 蝙蝠 (Chiroptera) 是一个高度多样化的哺乳动物群体,占现存物种的五分之一.
- 虽然支持蝙蝠单性,但它们的早期进化和飞行和回声定位的起源仍然不太清楚.
- 化石记录对这些早期的进化过渡提供了有限的见解.
研究的目的:
- 为了描述一个新的,原始的蝙蝠化石从早期伊奥森绿河形成.
- 研究蝙蝠飞行和回声定位的进化路径.
- 为了重建早期脊椎动物的祖先飞行风格和运动.
主要方法:
- 描述一个新的化石蝙蝠标本从怀俄明的早期世.
- 与现存的蝙蝠和非飞行哺乳动物进行了基因基因相关的比较.
- 对前肢,耳朵和翅膀形态以及四肢比例的分析.
主要成果:
- 新的化石显示出比以前任何已知的蝙蝠更原始的特征.
- 前肢解剖学表明动力飞行能力,但耳朵形态表明缺少回声定位.
- 翅膀的形状暗示着波浪般的滑翔飞翔的飞行风格,而长长的指的是尾膜作为气翼的早期演变.
结论:
- 这些发现支持了"飞行先"的假设,支持类动物的进化.
- 原始的蝙蝠可能具有波浪式的飞行风格,并利用它们的尾膜作为气翼.
- 这种化石表明,早期的蝙蝠是敏捷的爬者,具有四足运动和树枝下悬挂的潜力.
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