Avian features of Archaeopteryx feeding apparatus reflect elevated demands of flight
Open accessAbstract
The hypothalamus, an "ancient" subcortical brain structure, maintains physiological homeostasis and controls native behaviors. The evolution of homeostatic regulation and behavioral control in mammals may rely on adaptable neuronal identity establishment but conserved neural patterning mechanisms during neurodevelopment. Here, we combined single-cell, single-nucleus, and spatial transcriptomic datasets to map the spatial patterning of diverse progenitor domains and reconstruct their neurogenic lineages in the developing human and mouse hypothalamus. While the regional organizers orchestrating neural patterning are conserved between primates and rodents, we identified a human-enriched neuronal subtype and found a substantial increase in neuromodulatory gene expression among human neurons. Furthermore, cross-species comparison demonstrated a potential redistribution of two neuroendocrine neuronal subtypes and a shift in inter-transmitter and transmitter-peptide coupling within hypothalamic dopamine neurons. Together, our study lays a critical foundation for understanding cellular development and evolution of the mammalian hypothalamus.
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The ossified basihyal is only otherwise known in Microraptor, a volant dromaeosaurid.
“The latter is only otherwise known in Microraptor , a volant dromaeosaurid [86].”
From The ecology of Archaeopteryx (2026) · cites this paper as [86]
The Discussion (‘Co-evolution of oral papillae and the mobile tongue’) says that outside Aves, an ossified basihyal is documented only in Microraptor, which it calls ‘probably volant.’ But the Discussion (‘Food for flight’) also names Confuciusornis and Hongshanornis as previously known examples. The unqualified ‘only otherwise known’ omits those birds and states flight more definitively than the source does. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe Chicago Archaeopteryx preserves an ossified basihyal, which suggests hyolingual suspension and the presence of complex tongue musculature indicating increased tongue mobility relative to non-volant theropods.
“The Chicago Archaeopteryx also preserves an ossified basihyal, which suggests hyolingual suspension and the presence of complex tongue musculature indicating increased tongue mobility relative to non-volant theropods [86].”
From The ecology of Archaeopteryx (2026) · cites this paper as [86]
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Self-citation
- Authors
- O’Connor, J. K., Clark, A. D., Kuo, P.-C., Wang, M., Shinya, A., Van Beek, C., & Chang, H.
- Affiliations
- Field Museum of Natural History (US)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Venue
- The Innovation
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2026-02
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 101086
- ISSN
- 2666-6758 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC12881756
- OpenAlex
- W4413738998
- Cited by
- 5
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 1
- FWCI
- 3.51
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- The Innovation (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Urology › Comparative Animal Anatomy Studies
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
- Keywords
- Archaeopteryx, feeding apparatus, rostrum, mechanoreception, basihyal, tongue mobility, toothed birds, flight energetics, theropod dinosaurs, flight evolution
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