Fukuipteryx prima gen. et sp. nov.
Takuya Imai, Yoichi Azuma, Soichiro Kawabe, Masateru Shibata, Kazunori Miyata, Min Wang & Zhonghe Zhou (2019).
An unusual bird (Theropoda, Avialae) from the Early Cretaceous of Japan suggests complex evolutionary history of basal birds
Communications Biology Â2, Article number: 399
doi:
https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-019-0639-4https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-019-0639-4Free pdf:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-019-0639-4.pdfThe Early Cretaceous basal birds were known largely from just two-dimensionally preserved specimens from north-eastern China (Jehol Biota), which has hindered our understanding of the early evolution of birds. Here, we present a three-dimensionally-preserved skeleton (FPDM-V-9769) of a basal bird from the Early Cretaceous of Fukui, central Japan. Unique features in the pygostyle and humerus allow the assignment of FPDM-V-9769 to a new taxon, Fukuipteryx prima. FPDM-V-9769 exhibits a set of features comparable to that of other basalmost birds including Archaeopteryx. Osteohistological analyses indicate that FPDM-V-9769 is subadult. Phylogenetic analyses resolve F. prima as a non-ornithothoracine avialan basal to Jeholornis and outgroup of the Pygostylia. This phylogenetic result may imply a complex evolutionary history of basal birds. To our knowledge, FPDM-V-9769 represents the first record of the Early Cretaceous non-ornithothoracine avialan outside of the Jehol Biota and increases our understanding of their diversity and distribution during the time.
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