#neornithines

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

ITS ALMOST FOSSIL NOVEMBIRB!!!!!

We're going to have a CELEBRATION of FOSSIL NEORNITHINES for this November!!! The extinct members of the only group of dinosaurs we have today!

Each day will have a prompt inspired by the evolution of crown-birds and the amazing forms they have taken over the past 68 million years!

You can respond to each day's prompt however you wish - with drawing and painting, writing, sculpting, music, videos, whatever! Just tag it "#Fossil Novembirb" for me to find it, and it'll get reblogged!

I'm so excited to see the art you guys create!

NOVEMBER 1 - THE CHOSEN ONES

Crown-Birds (Neornithes) known from the Mesozoic Era!

Options include Asteriornis, Teviornis, Vegavis, and "Styginetta"!

These are the only dinosaurs that survived the asteroid!

Theoretically there were also early Palaeognaths and Neoavians - if you want to do some spec evo and hypothesize what you think they might have looked like, go ahead! Follow your dreams!

NOVEMBER 2 - THE SURVIVORS

The earliest birds known after the K-Pg boundary!

Options include Conflicto, Tsidiiyazhi, Australornis, Qinornis, and Qianshanornis!

Birds diverged rapidly after the extinction, so also feel free to dive into spec evo into some of the forms we don't have fossils of!

NOVEMBER 3 - RACE TO THE SEA

The first Marine Neornithines and how they evolved in the early Paleocene!

Includes tons of early penguins like Waimanu, Kumimanu, Sequiwaimanu, Muriwaimanu, and Kupoupou

Also includes the first Pseudo-toothed bird, Protodontopteryx, and the earliest known Tropicbird, Clymenoptilon!

RISE OF THE PENGUINS!

NOVEMBER 4 - THE MEGAFOWL

Gastornis (aka "Diatryma", aka "Zhongyuanus") appeared in the mid-Paleocene and was a feature of the Cenozoic landscape until the end of the Eocene - so we have a whole day JUST FOR IT

Show your love for the Megafowl Gastornis! This giant herbivorous bird was fascinating, and has captured imaginations for decades because of it!

Gastornis is also present in many of the ecosystems described below, such as Willwood, Green River, and Messel, so we also just wanted to make sure people didn't keep picking Gastornis over and over again xD

NOVEMBER 5 - IT'S GETTING HOT IN HERE

The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum was the most dramatic incident of rapid global warming in the world since the Permian... until today!

It majorly affected the evolution of many things, possibly including birds!

The Willwood Formation straddles the time period of the warming, and has tons of birds that were evolving during that time period! So, for this day, create things involving birds of the Willwood Formation!

Options include the flighted Palaeognaths Lithornis promiscuus and Lithornis plebius; the possible stem-Ostrich Paragrus, the early half-screamer-half-duck Anachronornis, the early owl Primoptynx, and the fascinating stem-mousebird Sandcoleus! And many more!

NOVEMBER 6 - TROPICAL DENMARK

Birds of the Fur Formation, one of the best collections of bird fossils from the early Eocene!

Includes such friends as Scandiavis (an early shorebird), Septencoracias (an early roller), Pellornis (an early rail-esque thing), the utterly mysterious Morsoravis, and the early swift-hummingbird Eocypselus!

This was a tropical shoreline environment with many of the first members of major bird groups we see today!

NOVEMBER 7 - ANCIENT LONDON TOWN

Across the shore from Fur was the London Clay Formation, a lush tropical forest near the warm shallow ocean

In addition to a truly alarming quantity of plant fossils, this is a notable locality for early birds, featuring many early members of major groups much like the Fur Formation

Options include Dasornis (a pseudotoothed bird), Pulchrapollia (one of the Parrot-Passerines of Prey), Nettapterornis (another stem-duck), Nasidytes (an early loon), Charadriisimilis (an early shorebird), Archaeodromus (a trogon-like member of Strisores), Eotrogon (an actual early Trogon), Lithornis vulturinus (another flighted Palaeognath), Prophaethon (another early Tropicbird), and Ypresiglaux (an early owl) - and so many more!

NOVEMBER 8 - THE RAPTORS ARE BACK

Turns out "Predatory Feathered Thing with Really Sharp Foot Claws" is a very successful niche - not only was there potentially one right after the end of the Cretaceous (Qianshanornis), but other raptors were some of the first birds to succeed around the world in the Eocene

So this day is dedicated to the early raptors of the Cenozoic!

Any "raptor" from the Paleogene is valid - so here are some suggestions: Early Cariamiformes (Seriemas and Kin) like Bathornis, Dynamopterus, Strigogyps, and the first potential Terror Birds like Paleopsilopterus Early Owls like Ypresiglaux and Palaeoglaux Early Accipitriformes like Horusornis Early Falcons like Antarctoboenus, Masillaraptor, and Danielsraptor And of course the ever popular "Parrot-Passerines of Prey" like Tynskya and Messelastur

NOVEMBER 9 - GETTING A GRIP

Half of all living birds are Passeriformes - aka "Perching Birds" - but this wasn't always the case! For most of Earth's history, many other kinds of tree birds were extremely common

Where did this behemoth group of tiny dinosaurs come from? That's the subject of this day's prompt!

In the Eocene, the first birds closer to Passeriformes than to Parrots evolved, and they came in a huge variety of forms! So on Nov 9th, we're going to celebrate this group's interesting beginnings!

Options for this include Parapsittacopes, Eofringillirostrum, Pumiliornis, Psittacopes, Zygodactylus, Primozygodactylus, Psittacomimus, Sororavis, Morsoravis, and Eozygodactylus! Go wild!

NOVEMBER 10 - BAYOU IN THE BADLANDS

Back to specific ecosystems! We're visiting the world-famous Fossil Lake of the Green River Formation!

This environment, during the Early Eocene, was a thriving tropical lake and forest ecosystem filled with tons of early Neornithines as well as mammals and other animals

Gorgeous fossils have come out of this lake, showing truly amazing detail of feathers and other features for these birds!

So here you can feature Prefica (a potential early Oilbird), the flighted Palaeognath Calciavis, the stem-turaco Foro, the early mousebird Celericolius, the possible shore-bird Nahmavis, a potential cuckoo roller Plesiocathartes, the Flamingo-Duck Presbyornis, the early landfowl Gallinuloides, the swift-hummingbird Eocypselus, and the Frigate Bird Trying at being a Gull Limnofregata - and so many more!

NOVEMBER 11 - A NEW DAWN

We're finally moving on to the middle Eocene - and the Messel Lake ecosystem, famous from the first episode of Walking with Beasts (hence the name of the day)!

(If you're going "wait, that episode acts like nothing happened between the K-Pg and Messel, but here you have 10 days worth of stuff" .... yeah. Walking With Beasts skipped the Paleocene and early Eocene and I am... very pissed. Still.)

You know about the tons of early mammals from this tropical lake ecosystem, but it was filled with tons of early birds as well!

There's the early ostrich Palaeotis, the crane-rail Messelornis, the almost-flamingo Juncitarsus, the freshwater Booby Masillastega, the early hoopoe Messelirrisor, Selmes (a mouse bird with stubby toes), the early ibis Rhynchaeites, the early nightbird Hassiavis, the early swift Scaniacypselus, an early roller with known colors Eocoracias, and the early potoo Paraprefica - and many others!

NOVEMBER 12 - PEAK PENGUIN PARTY

As the Eocene continued, penguins achieved true megafaunal status - there were tons of them, they were huge, and they were all over the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere

While penguin diversity never did recover after the Eocene-Oligocene extinction event, this golden age deserves celebration!

Some of these fascinating peak penguins include Palaeeudyptes, Anthropornis, Icadyptes, Inkayacu, Perudyptes, and Kairuku!

NOVEMBER 13 - FRENCH SAVANNAH

As the Eocene began to dry up and cool down, plains grew across the world where the tropical forests once had been

One of the most famous later-Eocene fossil sites for birds is the Quercy Phosphorites location, a French formation with tons of interesting fossil birds!

Here we start to see the early forms of Neornithine Dinosaurs we saw in the Paleocene-Early Eocene diverge and specialize further - often in particularly weird or interesting ways!

So here we have the duck-ish chicken Paraortyx, the secretarybird Pelargopappus, you can also bring back Dynamopterus from earlier, there is the stem-chicken Quercymegapodius as well as stem-parrots like Quercypsitta, the seriema-like Strigogyps, the sandgrouse relative Archaeoganga, Archaeotrogon shows up again, the swift relative Aegialornis, a potential woodpecker relative Sylphornis, and more owls like Palaeoglaux! Lots of cursorial predators in this ecosystem!

NOVEMBER 14 - LOST IN THE WOODS

As the Oligocene dawned, forests did grow back in Europe, though they were now temperate and dry as opposed to the paratropical rainforests of before

This lead to wide diversification of tree-dwelling birds, and so here we will celebrate the birds of the Oligocene of Europe!

We start to really see modern-esque birds at this point, though of course we still have 30 million years of evolution to go!

Here you can feature the early eagle/hawk Aviraptor, the European Hummingbird Eurotrochilus, the seabird relative Rupelornis, the early woodpecker-toucan Rupelramphastoides, the tody Palaeotodus, the proper Passerine Wieslochia, the possible shorebird Turnipax, the mousebird Oligocolius, the hoopoe Laurillardia, and the trogon Primotrogon which we know the colors of!

NOVEMBER 15 - OASIS IN THE DESERT

The Jebel Qatrani Formation of Egypt shows the beginnings of the famous African Grassland animals, as well as many early members of iconic African animal groups such as primates - and, of course, birds!

Taking place in the early Oligocene, this formation was a tropical/subtropical lowland plain filled with ponds and streams and other waterways - aka, tons of swamps surrounded by plains

As such, this place is infested with waterbirds!

Here we have a fossil relative of the Shoebill Goliathia, as well as the jacanas Janipes and Nupharanassa, the giant stork Palaeoephippiorhynchus, the herons Nycticorax and Xenerodiops, and the mystery Palaeognath Eremopezus!

NOVEMBER 16 - AMONG THE GIANTS

Once again we're just fully committing to the Walking With Beasts nostalgia bc these are the birds we wish were in it more okay we said it

Anyways there were some interesting large birds in the plains of the "Land of Giants" episode so picture these guys alongside the Indricothere etc.

In general we're covering the latest Eocene through the Oligocene of Central Asia

Here we have the enigmatic ratites Ergilornis and Sonogrus, the pseudo-toothed bird Caspiodontornis, the owl Heterostrix, and the stem-flamingo Agnopterus

NOVEMBER 17 - IF THE WIND WAS IN OUR WINGS

We all focus on penguins, but over the Cenozoic, plenty of weird birds have evolved for marine life, and boy are they bizarre!

So for Nov 17, we're focusing on the unusual marine birds of the Cenozoic!

This includes any members of the Pelagornithids - aka the Pseudo-toothed birds - as well as the Plotopterids - the Boobies that became Penguins! Pelagornis and Copepteryx are the best known taxa from each, respectively, but there are plenty more!

But that's not all! We have the flightless auks Miomancalla and Mancalla, the large flightless marine duck Chendytes, and who can forget the weird flightless marine swan Annakacygna! Tons of options to choose from!

NOVEMBER 18 - MARCHING IN THE MARSHES

We're now starting our transition from the Paleogene into the Neogene, beginning with the brackish marsh ecosystem preserved at Saint-Gerand-Le-Puy in France!

This Miocene locality preserves a wide variety of birds that are near modern, but not quite - a sort of "uncanny valley" of bird evolution, all set in a somewhat-salty somewhat-not wetland ecosystem

Options for dinosaurs here include Harrisonavis, a transitional flamingo; the early gull/tern Laricola, the enigmatic duck Mionetta, the stork Grallavis, the pratincole Becassius, the swimming-flamingo Palaelodus, the early cormorant Nectornis, the seed-eating pheasant Palaeortyx, the early loon Colymboides, and the mysterious shorebird Elorius!

NOVEMBER 19 - FERN GULLY

Riversleigh is one of the most famous fossil sites in the world, preserving the evolution of the strange and unique animals known today in Australia, during the Oligocene to Miocene transition

Most often, we focus on the bizarre mammals found at Riversleigh, and for good reason - it's a Marsupial Party! - but the birds here are fantastic as well

This ecosystem was a rich rainforest that transitioned over the period of deposition into a semiarid grassland, and covers 20 million years of animal evolution during that transition

Options for birds here include the butcherbird Kurrartapu, the fossil Sittella Daphoenositta trevorworthyi, the Mihirungs ("Demon Ducks") Dromornis and Barawertornis, the Emuwary Emuarius, the early magpie-goose Eoanseranas, the raptor Pengana with flexible ankles, the earliest known species of lyrebird (Menura tyawanoides), the corvid-like Corvitalusoides, the first known cockatoos, the flightless rail-like bird Australlus, the stiff-tailed duck Pinpanetta, the early logrunner Orthonyx kaldowinyeri, and so many more!

NOVEMBER 20 - LAND OF GIANTS

Y'all were probably wondering when we'd get to the Terror Birds and other interesting dinosaurs of South America, so - here we are!

South America, isolated from the rest of the world until the Great American Interchange, featured a wide variety of bizarre and unique animals - not just mammals, but birds and other reptiles as well!

So for Nov 20th, we're looking at the interesting dinosaurs of the "lost continent" during the Miocene epoch, prior to the invasion of North American taxa!

Any Miocene South American Terror Bird (Phorusrachid) is fair game here, so that includes Brontornis, Patagorhacos, Paraphysornis, Devincenzia, Kelenken, Phorusrhacos, Patagornis, Andalgalornis, Psilopterus, Mesembriornis, and Procariama! Note that they did not all live at the same time or even close to each other in location, so do your research on the taxa you pick!

But Terror Birds weren't the only strange dinosaurs in South America at the time! We have the large Teratorn (vulture-like-thing) Argentavis, the *giant* swimming-flamingo Megapaloelodus, the giant Anhinga Macranhinga, the rhea Opisthodactylus, the penguins Palaeospheniscus, Arthrodytes, and Paraptenodytes, the Cathartid Dryornis, the Jacamar Galbula hylochoreutes, fossil Hoatzins like Hoazinavis and Hoazinoides, the giant stork Leptoptilos patagonicus, and the owl Yarquen!

NOVEMBER 21 - FIRST OF THE MANU

Aotearoa has one of the most unique avifaunas in the world today, and I often call it "Mesozoic 2" because of its almost entirely dinosaur-dominated fauna, especially in the past

All great things have to start somewhere or when, and for Aotearoa, that somewhen was after the landmass resurfaced from the ocean for the first time in millions of years - and was quickly inhabited by all kinds of birds and other reptiles (including tuatara) in the Miocene

This ecosystem was a lake bordered by grassy wetland floodplains and subtropical forests, a bit warmer than Aotearoa today

Dinosaurs here include the early Kiwi Proapteryx, an unnamed early Moa, a truly alarming number of waterfowl including shelducks like Miotadorna, stiff-tailed ducks like Manuherikia, and the possible swan Notochen, the small swimming-flamingo Palaelodus aotearoa, pigeons like Rupephaps and Deliaphaps, an early adzebill Aptornis proasciarostratus, flightless rails like Priscaweka, the lake-wanderer Hakawai melvillei, the herons Pikaihao and Matuku, the giant parrot Heracles, proto-keas Nelepsittacus, and the New Zealand Wren Kuiornis. Tons of fun species to choose from!

NOVEMBER 22 - LAND OF CONFUSION

In the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene, the Italian province of Gargano was cut off from the mainland due to rising sea levels, turning it into an island - an island with lots of really strange birds!

This island was cut off from everything else and completely lacked large predators, allowing for a weird variety of animals to evolve and thrive prior to the island rejoining the mainland during the Ice Age

Strange birds of this ecosystem include the extremely old pigeon Columba omnisanctorum, the giant hawk Garganoaetus, the giant flightless goose Garganornis, the giant barn owl Tyto gigantea, the pheasant Palaeortyx volans, and the swift Apus wetmorei!

NOVEMBER 23 - MAKE A BIRD OUT OF YOU

The iconic animals of the Ice Age and recent prehistory had to come from somewhere, and much of this transition is recorded in the Chinese Ecosystem of the Liushu Formation, deposited between 11 and 6.4 million years ago

As grasslands expanded, this ecosystem transitioned from a forest to a wide plains, and many animals adapted for the grasslands accordingly, leading to the appearance of such mammals as Elasmotheriines, Sabercats, Hyenas, Ambelodonts, and a truly alarming quantity of hoofed mammals

Dinosaurs (Birds) adapted to this ecosystem change as well, of course! While most focus on the mammals of Liushu, we're here to showcase the interesting birds that appeared here as well!

Options here include the the very well preserved Falcon Falco hezhengensis, the vultures Mioneophron and Gansugyps, the diurnal owl Miosurnia, the vocally fancy pheasant Panraogallus, the sandgrouse Linxiavis, the Ostrich Struthio (or Orientornis) linxiaensis, and the probable-Ostrich Sinoergilornis

NOVEMBER 24 - ANCIENT SOUTH PACIFIC

Penguins are Bouncing Back! As the Miocene continued and the Pliocene began, many new types of marine birds showed up and were fossilized in locations in Chile (Pisco) and Aotearoa (Tangahoe)

Tons of interesting birds were preserved in this sort of transitional ecosystem, showcasing how birds adapted to changing conditions as the Miocene-Pliocene climatic turmoil continued

These near shore environments are probably more famous for their other animals - things like the giant shark "megalodon", as well as weird whales like Livyatan and Odobenocetops and aquatic giant sloths (like Thalassocnus) and marine crocodilians - but we're here for those dinosaurs!

Options here from the Pisco Formation include the "Toucan-Booby" Ramphastosula, the Cathartid Perugyps, the Booby Sula figueroae, Pelagornithids, Pelicans, and the penguins Spheniscus urbinai and Spheniscus megaramphus, whereas birds from the Tangahoe Formation include the narrow-beaked albatross Aldiomedes, the giant petrel Macronectes, the more regular-sized petrel Procellaria altirostris, the little penguin Eudyptula wilsonae, and the crested penguin Eudyptes atatu!

NOVEMBER 25 - LAST OF A DYING BREED

We all love Megafuana, even though they are usually the "Live Fast Die Young" kind of species - gobbling up resources and growing too big will do that to you

Usually when we hear the term "Megafauna" we think of Mammals and Non-Avian Dinosaurs, but birds have had their share too - and have lost their share as well

So, mainly to cater to the Megafauna Fanbase, here we dedicate a whole day to the giant birds of recent times - Pliocene through Pleistocene - that we have lost to the dramatic climate change of the Ice Age Era. (Those lost in the Holocene will get their own days, see below)

Options for this day include the giant ostrich Pachystruthio, the Mihirung Genyornis, the Terror Bird Titanis, the giant stork Leptoptilos robustus, the giant swan Cygnus falconeri, the giant Anhinga Giganhinga, and of course - we can't forget our friend - the last of the Pseudotoothed Birds, Pelagornis

NOVEMBER 26 - HIGH AS A KITE

In many ways, the real dinosaur winners of the Ice Age were the flying Birds of Prey, as there were many kinds of raptors during the Ice Age and they exploited the new environment expertly

Nothing like being able to traverse huge distances to find places where there are food, amiright?

So this day is dedicated to the fantastic Raptors of the Ice Age, both volant and not!

Here we have some of the last of the Teratorns like Teratornis itself, the Giant Australian Raptor Dynatoaetus, the Australian Vulture Cryptogyps, Woodward's Eagle Buteogallus woodwardi, the tiny Condor Wingegyps, the large Cuban Eagle Gigantohierax, the wandering vulture Neogyps, the Walking Eagle Buteogallus daggetti, the Giant Cuban Stilt-Owl Ornimegalonyx, and one of the last Terror Birds, Psilopterus

NOVEMBER 27 - BEGINNING OF THE END

Oh Holocene Extinctions. As upsetting as they are, they include some of the best known fossil/subfossil birds, so we decided to spend a little extra time on them than they should have based solely on the time length

Here, we highlight the early losses of the Holocene - those dinosaurs that went extinct at the start, largely due to direct human activity such as hunting in addition to the warming caused by the end of the last Ice Age/Glacial Maximum

Days will be dedicated to both Hawai'i (see below) and Aotearoa (again, below), so this is for everyone else!

So options here include the previously mentioned marine duck Chendytes, the giant flightless landfowl Sylviornis from New Caledonia, the famous Elephant Birds of Madagascar, the flightless clubbing-ibis Xenicibis, the weird puffin Fratercula dowi, the giant Bahama Eagle Titanohierax, the Californian Turkey Meleagris californica, and the flightless "Cave Rail" Nesotrochis of the Greater Antilles

NOVEMBER 28 - OLD HAWAI'I

Many, many, MANY unique dinosaurs live on islands. The islands of Hawai'i are no exception, and these islands have lost many unique and fascinating birds over the years - thanks to human activity, invasive cats, colonialism, and climate change

We couldn't possibly ignore them, so for this day, we are hilghlighting these amazing animals found across the archipelago

There are tons of options, but some of our recommendations include the reverse-platypus/Mole Duck Talpanas, the Stilt-Owl Grallistrix, the flightless ibis Apteribis, the Moa-Nalo like Chelychelynechen, Ptaiochen, and Thambetochen, the Wood Harrier Circus dossenus, Hawai'ian Honeycreepers like Drepanis, Aidemedia, Hemignathus, Chloridops, Akialoa, Rhodacanthis, Dysmorodrepanis, Telespiza, and Vangulifer, the Oloma'o and ʻĀmaui thrushes, ʻōʻō's/Hawai'ian Honeyeaters like the Kioea, Kauaʻi ʻōʻō, and Oʻahu ʻōʻō, the giant Hawai'i Goose, the nēnē-nui/wood-walking goose, the Robust Crow, the flightless Laysan Rail, and the O'ahu Petrel

NOVEMBER 29 - OLD AOTEAROA

We're finally here: Pre-Human Holocene Aotearoa, aka Mesozoic 2, aka The Land Where Mammals Ain't Shit

I love Aotearoa so much. Why wasn't I born there. The universe isn't fair.

The ecosystems were very similar to today - podocarp forests and southern beech forests, grass and tussock plains and shrublands, and plenty of coastal habitats, all usually temperate in terms of climate

All named Moa are fair game. All of them, all named members of Dinornithiformes. So the North Island Giant Moa, the South Island Giant Moa, the Bush Moa, the Eastern Moa, the Broad-Billed Moa, the Heavy-Footed Moa, Mantell's Moa, the Crested Moa, and the Upload Moa. Follow your Moa-Filled Dreams!

Obviously there were more than Moa - not just the living species of Aotearoa still with us, but tons of other extinct forms for Fossil Novembirb. This includes the Adzebills, Haast's Eagle (of course), the whēkau/Laughing Owl Ninox albifacies, the New Zealand Goose Cnemiornis, the New Zealand Owlet-Nightjar, the mehonui Diaphorapteryx, the Long-Billed Wren Dendroscansor, the piopio Turnagra, and the Huia

NOVEMBER 30 - SIXTH EXTINCTION

And, for our last day, we cover recent Holocene extinctions (not on Hawai'i or Aotearoa) - the birds/dinosaurs we have lost in the living past, due largely to colonialism, capitalism, globalism, and climate change

Any bird extinct since 1492 not previously covered is fair game, and there are a lot of them. Today, we honor them, however we can.

Some suggestions include the Dodo (of course), the Cuban Macaw, the Pink-Headed Duck, the Northern Curlew, the Great Auk, the Passenger Pigeon, the Carolina Parakeet, the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, the Labrador Duck, the Saint Helena Hoopoe, and the Spectacled Cormorant; though there are of course many otherse to choose from as well

Kind of a bummer note to end on, but here we are

Living Birds already get tons of time and attention, so we really don't want to include them here - we love them, but the fossils of the Neornithes world deserve love too! So we tried to cover all of the bases, as best as we could!

Remember, Wikipedia, the Paleobiology Database, The Works of Gerald Mayr, the third volume of "Earth Before Us", and the blogs of myself and @albertonykus and @otussketching are all fantastic resources to look for information about these wonderful animals! Also check out Through Time and Clades' "Dinosaurs: The Second Chapter" series and the Raptormaniacs blog from Albert as well!

HAVE FUN! CREATE WHAT YOU DREAM! AND LOVE CENOZOIC DINOSAURS!

HAPPY FOSSIL NOVEMBIRB!

[fishsfailureson]

Day 14- Prehistoric animal from your home country.

I picked the Saint Bathans Heron AKA Mataku otagoense, this was quite challenging to do since I don't really draw birds often and there were barely any resources- I couldn't even find a single reconstruction.

Prompts

[herpsandbirds]

Direct evidence of frugivory in the Mesozoic bird Longipteryx contradicts morphological proxies for diet

Jingmai O’Connor, Alexander Clark, Fabiany Herrera, Xiaoting Zheng, Han Hu, Zhonghe Zhou

Summary

Diet is one of the most important aspects of an animal’s ecology, as it reflects direct interactions with other organisms and shapes morphology, behavior, and other life history traits. Modern birds (Neornithes) have a highly efficient and phenotypically plastic digestive system, allowing them to utilize diverse trophic resources, and digestive function has been put forth as a factor in the selectivity of the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, in which only neornithine dinosaurs survived. Although diet is directly documented in several early-diverging avian lineages, only a single specimen preserves evidence of diet in , the dominant group of terrestrial Cretaceous birds. Morphology-based predictions suggest enantiornithines were faunivores, although the absence of evidence contrasts with the high preservation potential and relatively longer gut-retention times of these diets.  Longipteryx is an unusual Early Cretaceous enantiornithine with an elongate rostrum; distally restricted dentition; large, recurved, and crenulated teeth; and tooth enamel much thicker than other paravians. Statistical analysis of rostral length, body size, and tooth morphology predicts Longipteryx was primarily insectivorous.  Contrasting with these results, two new specimens of Longipteryx preserve gymnosperm seeds within the abdominal cavity interpreted as ingesta. Like Jeholornis, their unmacerated preservation and the absence of gastroliths indicate frugivory.  As in Neornithes, complex diets driven by the elevated energetic demands imposed by flight, secondary rostral functions, and phylogenetic influence impede the use of morphological proxies to predict diet in early-diverging avian lineages.

Read the paper here:

Direct evidence of frugivory in the Mesozoic bird Longipteryx contradicts morphological proxies for diet: Current Biology (cell.com)

[harpagornis]

Massive Winged Dragons

Diagram by David E. Alexander, showing various species of Permian-Triassic gliding reptiles. Compare these wings to the modest wings of modern Draco lizards.

Folks familiar with paleontology might have heard of the kuenheosaurids and weigeltisaurids, two lineages of extinct gliding reptiles superficially similar to modern Draco lizards. The former were apparently stem-lepidosaurs distantly related to modern squamates and tuataras, while the latter are a much older clade with no living relatives. Both groups have wings supported by rib processes, but whereas kuenheosaurids have typical rib-wings like their modern gliding lizard analogues those of weigeltisaurids are actually elements seperate from the ribs proper, allowing them to both have functional ribcages and rib wings!

Though the exact positioning of these elements is still unclear.

Two diagrams of Coelurosauravus, the first with the wing support elements aligned along the ribs and the latter radiating from the armpits.

As you can see, the wings of these animals tend to be proportionally very large for gliders, as well as proportionally elongated. Those of modern Draco lizards are much smaller and rounder, though those of the extinct lizard Xianlong are almost as large(Li 2007). Furtheremore, kuenheosaurids at least co-existed with another rib-glider, Mecistotrachelos, which had wing proportions more similar to those of modern Draco lizards in contrast with the proportionally massive wings for the former (Fraser 2007).

Mecistotrachelos by Cerri Thomas, displaying wing proportions similar to those of modern Draco lizards.

Unlike volaticotheres and non-avian theropods, I’m not going to argue that these were powered flyers, since even weigeltisaurids lack a sternum to which downtroke muscles would be attached (unless they had them attached to the back, like a reverse neornithine condition?).

However, I do think that this hints at far more aerial habits than modern Draco lizards, perhaps relying on thermals or other air currents to soar for long distances. Notably, several kuenheosaurids have different wing shapes (see diagram above), having radiated much as flying birds long after them.

The era of these large winged flyers also coincidentally ends with the arrival of pterosaurs to the scene, with only Xianglong approaching similar wing proportions. Perhaps these gliders occupied niches latter taken by true flying vertebrates, which to me suggests that they weren’t functionally analogous to modern gliding vertebrates.

Food for thought.

References

Pi-Peng Li; Ke-Qin Gao; Lian-Hai Hou & Xing Xu (2007). “A gliding lizard from the Early Cretaceous of China” (pdf). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 104 (13): 5507–5509. doi:10.1073/pnas.0609552104. PMC 1838464. PMID 17376871.

Fraser, N.C.; Olsen, P.E.; Dooley, A.C. Jr.; Ryan, T.R. (2007). “A new gliding tetrapod (Diapsida: ?Archosauromorpha) from the Upper Triassic (Carnian) of Virginia” (PDF). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 27 (2): 261–265. doi:10.1671/0272–4634(2007)27[261:ANGTDA]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0272–4634.

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

So Velociraptor didn't directly evolve into birds - and, as far as we can tell, neither did Microraptor

but both Velociraptor and Microraptor descend from an extremely recent common ancestor that they share with living birds

and, in fact, that common ancestor would have been very "raptor" like, including having a sickle claw

Here's a great illustration of Velociraptor by my friend @mayajadeart

Here's Microraptor by my other friend @artisticthingem

And here's Archaeopteryx by yet a third friend @thewoodparable

anyways now that I'm done bragging about how good my friends are at paleoart, notice the similarities. Archaeopteryx is only one step closer to being a bird (more or less) than those raptors, and doesn't look too different from them

In fact, currently the most parsimonious hypothesis is that the common ancestor of all three (the first "Paravian") was flighted, making Velociraptor secondarily flightless (Microraptor, as far as we know right now, could fly)

Now, here's the bummer: a lot of Paravians (that group of dinos that has raptors, troodontids, anchiornthids, confuciusornithids, Archaeopteryx, Enantiornithines, and Euornithines - aka all living birds plus a bunch of dead birdie things) went extinct in the end-Cretaceous. In fact, only about four species of dinosaur managed to make it through the extinction (we're ignoring Qinornis):

a Palaeognath

a Galliform

an Anseriform

a Neoavian

(possibly more than one per group, but at least four)

these four groups are all in the group called Neornithes, aka "modern birds"

why these four and none of the other small modern-bird-like dinosaurs? well, let's review how the extinction progressed:

asteroid hit

shockwaves

tsunamis

global wildfires

dust blocks out sun

millenia long impact winter

first of all, the asteroid killed everything over 25kg by default. There just wasn't anywhere for larger organisms to hide from the fires or enough food for them to eat.

smaller organisms needed

to have somewhere to hide

the ability to find food that they can access

enough food to continue through the long dark neverending winter

most birdie-dinos at the end of the Cretaceous were tree dwellers, and would have been wiped out en masse during the wildfires

but, Neornithines - at the time - were all associated with fresh water. Fresh water gave them the ability to hide out from the wildfires (and, in fact, fresh water associated or burrowing is par for the course across tetrapods that survived) better than trees could, and also gave them a safe habitat during the winter

but the thing that really separates Neornithes from all other dinosaurs is that they evolved a toothless beak, and lost the gene for enamel. Neornithes are Forever Toothless Dinosaurs

and those powerful, strong beaks were really great at breaking open the kinds of capsules different organisms use to get through apocalyptic events - hard capsules. aka, spores and seeds.

so, Neornithes had a place to hide, were small enough to do so, and could access all those lovely seeds the trees had dropped around them for food during those millenia

tldr no, velociraptor nor microraptor made it through. not even enantiornithines made it through. personally, I would have loved for one of the characters to be a Neornithine, because imagine the ANGST

I find it amusing that Reed is the most worried about the meteor, seeing that he's a velociraptor. While modern birds probably don't actually descend from velociraptors themselves (need to look it up), given the creative liberties the game takes he and Sage may be the most likely to survive if it actually happens.

I like to think that the melodies birds chirp today are actually Worm Drama songs that passed from generation to generation (of musicians) thanks to Reed.

[noddytheornithopod]

Now that Prehistoric Planet is over, I'll compile a list of ideas I'd like to see if we ever get a season 2. This is going to assume we stick to the Maastrichtian, if we open it up to the whole Mesozoic we'll be here all day.

More marine reptile diversity! Would love to see how varied plesiosaurs were, especially Aristonectines, and also just how many niches mosasaurs occupied, including potentially stranger ones like Xenodens. Same for any other reptiles like turtles for that matter.

Honestly, more marine life in general. It wasn't just big reptiles. We saw ammonites briefly, how about more cephalopods? Different fish, we saw pycnodonts briefly, sharks could be nice too? Hell, give us hesperornithines, actual sea dinosaurs.

On the topic of birds, it's wild we didn't get many birds, and none that really got any focus. Already some interesting birds at this time, like various enantiornithines such as avisaurs, weird island birds in Europe, and even neornithines.

On the note of Europe... I'd love to see more Hateg Island. We didn't get to see any of the creatures in-depth, so exploring how islands shape the fauna there would be great. There were even crocodyliformes there! Also, Hatzegopteryx hunting bigger prey.

If we're talking islands, revisiting Madagascar would also be great. Another ecosystem that is quite varied. It may not have dwarf sauropods, but it has many dinosaurs beyond Masiakasaurus, as well as a host of unusual crocodyliformes.

Crocodyliformes in general. We somehow got NONE. Not even baurusuchids, not to mention all the other varied notosuchians out there. There's even the marine dyrosaurs, and close relatives of modern true crocodilians. Gimme weird mammal crocs and terrestrial dino hunter crocs!

Honestly? Mammals also got super snubbed. Mammals were way more diverse than we give them credit for in the Mesozoic, and this would be a perfect place to show it. Gondwanatheres, metatherians, multituberculates, even placentals like possible primate Purgatorius.

In terms of locations, I'd love to see India, especially to see the animals there living in close proximity to the Deccan Traps. Many dinosaurs there too, and even the snake Sanajeh.

For locations we already saw to explore further in depth, maybe also some more Zealandia, Antarctica and South America? Especially for looks at their ecosystems if we have the data for it.

Of course who knows if we'll even get a Season 2, but if we do, hopefully some of these come to pass.

[dinosaurs-dinosaurs-dinosaurs]

Image from Wikipedia, by Joseph C. Boone

E is for Emu! 

The Emu is a modern flightless dinosaur native to Australia. They are primarily herbivores, but also eat insects and other small arthropods for protein. It is the second tallest bird in the world, and they spend their days foraging, preening, and resting! 

[albertonykus]

What are the unnamed alvarezsaurid & neornithine in Holtz’s genus list?

The alvarezsaurid is almost certainly the “Tugriken Shireh alvarezsaur” (MPD 100/120), which was described as a specimen of Shuvuuia but is now generally considered distinct.

I’m less sure about the bird; however, my best guess is that it refers to the embryos later named as Gobipipus, which were considered by Mikhailov (1996) to belong to paleognaths instead of enantiornitheans.

[farsailing]

submitted them all on time properly cited and all but perhaps not fully edited bc word didnt save my edited version and i had to panic re-edit in 5 min

i have . 12 hrs to write 2 papers (only 5-7 pages total tho which isnt so bad) and also do most of the research for them 😬 ya boy has no sense of time and 0 executive function

[colrfulcreations]

Sharing How I Colored Love Neornithine Using Colored Pencils. Colored Pencils: Prismacolor Book: Botanicum by Maria Trolle Sharpener: X-ACTO Gel Pens: Uni Signo Lamp: TaoTronics TO PURCHASE Botanicum Book By Maria Trolle: Prismacolor Premier Soft Core Colored Pencil, Set of 132: Prismacolor Premier Soft Core Colored Pencil, Set of 150: X-ACTO XLR Electric Pencil Sharpener: Uni-ball Signo Sparkling Color Capped Gel Ink Pen, Bold Point 1.0mm: TaoTronics LED Desk Lamp: RELATED VIDEOS Step by Step Love Neornithine: Flip Ambiposition Botanicum Book: Midnight Bunny: The Lilttel Mouse: After The Rain: FOLLOW ME Instagram: Facebook Fan Page: MUSIC "Brittle Rille" Kevin McLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Is there a word for the extinct dinosaurs (the ones who are not birds)?

bold of you to assume any dinosaurs are not birds

if you want to talk about dinosaurs that were around in the Mesozoic, say Mesozoic Dinosaurs

if you want to talk about "classical" dinosaurs, say Nonavian Dinosaurs

if you want to talk about the dinosaurs that did not make it through to the Cenozoic, say Non-Neornithine Dinosaurs

[jurassicsunsets]

any idea from which specific dinosaurs modern birds came to be?

Yes. Birds are neornithines, euornithines, ornithothoracens, pygostylians, avebrevicaudans, euavialans, avialans, averaptorans, paravians, pennaraptors, maniraptors, maniraptoriforms, tyrannoraptors, coelurosaurs, avetheropods, orionodens, tetenurans, averostrans, neotheropods, theropods, and saurischians. Their closest non-avialan relatives are dromaeosaurs and troodontids.

[coolsandy8800]

Scientists discover 'Wonderchicken,' the oldest modern bird fossil - CNET

Scientists discover ‘Wonderchicken,’ the oldest modern bird fossil – CNET

Scientists discover ‘Wonderchicken,’ the oldest modern bird fossil  CNET

Fossil ‘wonderchicken’ could be earliest known fowl  BBC News

Late Cretaceous neornithine from Europe illuminates the origins of crown birds  Nature.com

‘Wonderchicken’ is the earliest known modern bird at nearly 67 million years old  Science News

Oldest bird fossil discovered, nicknamed ‘wonderchicken’  USA TODAY

View Full…

[johnwalshonline]

Date: 2018-05-08 23:25:59

Bizarre Chlamydophorus … to Monters Growing 60 Feet long … here are 15 of the largest and weirdest Prehistoric Crocodille and Aligators Subscribe to Talltanic http://3d-printing.space #6 Carnufex Carolinensis When we Encounter That name of us is kind of a Prehistoric version of CarFax. But this Anumal was Around a long time earlier … Around 230 Million Megaannus ago during the Latenessness Triassic. Its name , ‘Butcher’ … and its Fossiliferous DiscOverers in in the US. Tihs Creatures Canst Having weighed about 500 , and Measured close to 10 Feet long and 5 Feet tall. But Experting say it may Having had the Potential to grow Even larger. of its Distinguish Physical include Forelimbs and the Abilities to walk on its Hind legs. It was bipedal,That it Canst walk on its Hind legs. Chances are, it fed on Mamals and Othering Reptile … and it may Having Been one of the largest ever … are Anumals That Belong to Klados Which includes Crododilians and Extinct relatives. #5 DeinoSuchus Larger Specimens of this Monters Canst exceed of 9 Tons, Awhile Measured More THAN 35 Feet. It lived Until Around 73 Million Megaannus ago, during the late Cretacious Periods, and Canst Having resembled the day Aligator. In fact, Even though its name Translates as ‘terrible Crocodille’, this is Actshy an Extinct Genera of Aligator. Of Courses it was far THAN any Extant Aligator … or croc, for That matter. Tihs was an Apex That was Incap of Taking and Eatingly a dinosaur if the Needs arose. Experting say it mostly fed on fish, sea turtles, and Othering Aquatic or Terrestriality morsels. #4 Purussaurus Until Around 8 Million Megaannus ago during the Miocene epoch, you Canst Having Found this prowling about Southward U-S … not That it Canst be Easiness to miss. Its Fossiliferous Indications That the largest Specimens Canst Having Measured of 40 Feet, and weighed More THAN 9 Tons. That MAKE this Extinct Genera of Champsa among the largest of Crododilians That ever Nonexistences. Thanks to its immense Size and power, this Apex Predacious Canst put Away close to 100 of food day, and it had a WIDE Range of prey. Included in its Diet larger vertebrates, WITH smaller Meat-eating WITHin its Ecosystems Lilttel if any competition. Ironically, the Anumal’s Tremendous Size may Having Evidenced to be a liAbilities When it came to its survival. An Environment That was Constantly undergoing large scale change … tended to Favors smaller Species That Better to endure Such Eco- shifts. #3 RhamphoSuchus For a time, Many Palaentology considered this to be the largest Crododilians That ever lived, WITH an Estimated Lenght of NearLY 59 Feet. Further Studied concluded That it was not the largest Such specimen, and its Estimated Lenght was Revised ward, to Around 36 Feet (11m) … although That’s Nothin to be Ignominy of. Did you know That this Creatures is Actshy an Extinct of the day False Gharial (GUH-ree-uhl)? The ’s Jaws do the Unique Struktur of its descendant. RhamphoSuchus is Knowledgableness mostly SET of its Fossiliferous, Which are mostly comprised of its Tooth and skull. It was Active during the Miocene in is now the subcontinent. #2 SuperCroc We Canstn’t SarcoSuchus Imperatrix off of a Lists this. By most accounts, this Ancient BEAST is described as the biggest Crocodille That ever lived It DATE back 112 Million Megaannus to the Cretacious Periods … Whither it lived in day Africay and Southward U-S. Weighing NearLY 9 Tons and Measured Around 40 Feet long, it was Certainly one of the largest-ever Crocodille- Reptile That ever Nonexistences, Which has Earn it the Shortname of SuperCroc. Experting think That these Anumals may Having had a Diet comprised mostly of fish … but as grew larger, may Having feasted on Ornithoscelida as well. Not That Actively Ornithoscelida … but if faced WITH Battling Over food sources, a Fully Growth SuperCroc Canst Having Been Powerful Enough to break the Necke of a Spinosaurus. #1 OrnithoSuchus It wasn’t so large, but it was kind of weird. But That’s not why it GETS the 0123456789 one spot. Its name ‘bird Crocodille’ … a Goods name, since and Neornithine are closely related. Did you know That this Might be among the earliest of Crododilians? While initially to be an to Ornithoscelida Allosaurus, Experting say it is More closely related to . Not un Theropoda Ornithoscelida, it Canst walk on its Hind legs, but ly Only did so When it was Being pursued. Around 13 Feet long, the Creatures had a double row of armor on its back … and may Having had Five Toes on each foot. Their Canst Having Nonexistences during the Latenessness Triassic. 1...

[fitanddangerous]

How To make a federal case giddy Bars out of calamity for Canada 150 Yolanda Gampp How To Gateau It

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How To make a federal case giddy Bars out of calamity for Canada 150 Yolanda Gampp How To Gateau It

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Date: 2017-06-27 15:01:17

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[a-dinosaur-a-day]

The talk about dinosaurs being maybe kosher made me imagine the entire town getting invited to the world's largest BBQ outside a synagogue and getting a pulled sauropod sandwich

I mean, if Non-Neornithine dinosaurs had made it to the present day, who knows what the kosher laws would be like in terms of clean and unclean animals. They're all based on the food the early Israelites had access to at the time, after all.

Then again, Elephants aren't kosher, so probably not?

Giraffes are, though... hmm...