来自缅甸白纪的大型恐龙
Lida Xing1,2, Jingmai K O'Connor3,4, Lars Schmitz5,6
1State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, China.
Nature
|March 13, 2020
概括
在9900万年前的珀中发现了一种新的恐龙物种Oculudentavis khaungraae. 这种非常小的鸟类类恐龙提供了关于脊椎动物小型化和古老生态系统的见解.
科学领域:
- 古生物学
- 脊椎动物的解剖学
- 珀化石研究
背景情况:
- 珀化石保存了很少在其他地方发现的微妙动物结构.
- 在缅甸珀中发现的鸟类化石比石材中发现的更小.
研究的目的:
- 描述一个新的,特别保存的,微小的鸟类像头骨从缅甸珀.
- 分析这种新物种独特的解剖特征和影响.
主要方法:
- 在珀中发现的化石头骨的详细形态分析.
- 与现存和灭绝的脊椎动物进行比较解剖学.
- 在小型化和古生态学的背景下解读解剖特征.
主要成果:
- 关于Oculudentavis khaungraae gen. et sp. 的描述 最小的已知中生代恐龙.
- O. khaungraae表现出独特的头骨融合和类似的眼形态,表明白天活动.
- 这种微小的尺寸与岛屿生物地理学的珀形成理论一致.
结论:
- 它代表了以前未知的建筑和生态领域.
- 这一发现突破了中生代脊椎动物体型的已知极限.
- 珀沉积对于了解小脊椎动物的进化至关重要.
相关概念视频
02:56The Fossil Record
26.9K
The fossil record documents only a small fraction of all organisms that have ever inhabited Earth. Fossilization is a rare process, and most organisms never become fossils. Moreover, the fossil record only exhibits fossils that have been discovered. Nevertheless, sedimentary rock fossils of long-lived, abundant, hard-bodied organisms dominate the fossil record. These fossils offer valuable information, such as an organism's physical form, behavior, and age. Studying the fossil record helps...
26.9K
01:54Convergent Evolution
31.2K
Evolution shapes the features of organisms over time, ensuring that they are suited for the environments in which they live. Sometimes, selection pressure leads to the rise of similar but unrelated adaptations in organisms with no recent common ancestors, a process known as convergent evolution.
31.2K
01:12The Hyoid Bone
4.4K
The hyoid bone is a small U-shaped bone located in the upper neck at the level of the inferior mandible, with its tips pointing posteriorly. It does not directly articulate with any other bone in the body. The hyoid acts as the attachment site for the tongue, the larynx, and the pharynx. It is held in position by a series of small muscles attached from above or below. These muscles help to move the hyoid up/down or forward/back in coordination with movements of the tongue, larynx, and pharynx...
4.4K
01:07Speciation Rates
22.5K
Overview
22.5K
02:35What is Evolutionary History?
42.8K
Scientists record evolutionary history by analyzing fossil, morphological, and genetic data. The fossil record documents the history of life on Earth and provides evidence for evolution. However, both fossil and living organisms offer evidence that outlines Earth’s evolutionary history.
42.8K
02:31Synteny and Evolution
3.7K
John H. Renwick first coined the term “synteny” in 1971, which refers to the genes present on the same chromosomes, even if they are not genetically linked. The species with common ancestry tend to show conserved syntenic regions. Therefore, the concept of synteny is nowadays used to describe the evolutionary relationship between species.
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral...
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral...
3.7K