Early Paleocene landbird supports rapid phylogenetic and morphological diversification of crown birds after the K–Pg mass extinction
Open accessAbstract
Significance: Molecular (DNA) studies suggest that birds radiated rapidly in the wake of the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction (66 Ma), diversifying into nearly all the major groups we recognize today. However, fossil evidence for this pattern has been difficult to find because of the poor fossilization potential of small, delicate-boned birds. We report a tiny species of bird from ∼62.5 million-year-old rocks in New Mexico. Tsidiiyazhi abini (Navajo for “little morning bird”) is an ancient species of mousebird (Coliiformes). The fossil provides evidence that many groups of birds arose just a few million years after the mass extinction and had already begun evolving specializations of the foot for different ecological roles.
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Fossil evidence indicates that Sphenisciformes, Coliiformes, Musophagiformes, and Accipitrifomes had begun to acquire key phenotypic differences during the interval around 60 Mya.
“Fossil evidence indicates that these clades had begun to acquire key phenotypic differences during this interval (26, 27).”
From Developmental origins of mosaic evolution in the avian cranium (2018) · cites this paper as [27]
The earliest crown bird specimens are known from primarily postcranial remains or highly deformed specimens, hindering estimation of the cranial phenotype for the ancestral neornithine.
“However, these specimens are known from primarily postcranial remains or highly deformed specimens, hindering estimation of the cranial phenotype for the ancestral neornithine.”
From Developmental origins of mosaic evolution in the avian cranium (2018) · cites this paper as [27]
The earliest crown bird fossils include representatives of Galloanserae, total-clade Sphenisciformes, and total-clade Coliiformes.
“The earliest crown bird fossils include representatives of Galloanserae (33), total-clade Sphenisciformes (26), and total-clade Coliiformes (27).”
From Developmental origins of mosaic evolution in the avian cranium (2018) · cites this paper as [27]
Cites
A comprehensive phylogeny of birds (Aves) using targeted next-generation DNA sequencing
Prum, R. O., Berv, J. S., Dornburg, A., Field, D. J., Townsend, J. P., Lemmon, E. M., & Lemmon, A. R. (2016) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature19417 · Cited by 928 · cited 9× · see citing works
“In the present study, a “naïve” reconstruction using the molecular scaffold tree with only extant taxa and no branch length data supports a single origin of semizygodactyly in the most recent common ancestor of Coraciimorphae + Strigiformes, along with two independent origins of full zygodactyly in Piciformes and Psit…”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialFinarelli, J. A., & Flynn, J. J. (2006) · Systematic Biology · doi:10.1080/10635150500541698 · Cited by 254 · see citing works
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Developmental origins of mosaic evolution in the avian cranium
Felice, R. N., & Goswami, A. (2018) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1716437115 · Cited by 249 · see citing works
“The earliest crown bird fossils include representatives of Galloanserae (33), total-clade Sphenisciformes (26), and total-clade Coliiformes (27).”
Background
- Authors
- Ksepka, D. T., Stidham, T. A., & Williamson, T. E.
- Affiliations
- Bruce Museum (US)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science (US)
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2017-07-10
- Volume
- 114
- Issue
- 30
- Pages
- 8047-8052
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC5544281
- OpenAlex
- W2736109093
- Cited by
- 93
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 3
- FWCI
- 8.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- NSF | BIO | Division of Emerging Frontiers (0905606, 0423641)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (41472025)
- NSF | GEO | Division of Earth Sciences (0207750, 1325544)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Plant Diversity and Evolution
- Keywords
- fossil birds, K-Pg mass extinction, avian diversification, foot morphology, ancestral state reconstruction, Coliiformes, Leptosomiformes, owls
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Birds, Fossils, Phylogeny, Genetic Speciation, Extinction, Biological
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