nature.com

Definitive fossil evidence for the extant avian radiation in the Cretaceous - Nature

  • ️Ketcham, Richard A.
  • ️Thu Jan 20 2005
  • Letter
  • Published: 20 January 2005

Nature volume 433, pages 305–308 (2005)Cite this article

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 07 December 2006

Abstract

Long-standing controversy1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 surrounds the question of whether living bird lineages emerged after non-avian dinosaur extinction at the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary1,6 or whether these lineages coexisted with other dinosaurs and passed through this mass extinction event2,3,4,5,7,8,9. Inferences from biogeography4,8 and molecular sequence data2,3,5,9 (but see ref. 10) project major avian lineages deep into the Cretaceous period, implying their ‘mass survival’3 at the K/T boundary. By contrast, it has been argued that the fossil record refutes this hypothesis, placing a ‘big bang’ of avian radiation only after the end of the Cretaceous1,6. However, other fossil data—fragmentary bones referred to extant bird lineages11,12,13—have been considered inconclusive1,6,14. These data have never been subjected to phylogenetic analysis. Here we identify a rare, partial skeleton from the Maastrichtian of Antarctica15 as the first Cretaceous fossil definitively placed within the extant bird radiation. Several phylogenetic analyses supported by independent histological data indicate that a new species, Vegavis iaai, is a part of Anseriformes (waterfowl) and is most closely related to Anatidae, which includes true ducks. A minimum of five divergences within Aves before the K/T boundary are inferred from the placement of Vegavis; at least duck, chicken and ratite bird relatives were coextant with non-avian dinosaurs.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 51 print issues and online access

$199.00 per year

only $3.90 per issue

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Additional access options:

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Feduccia, A. Explosive evolution in Tertiary birds and mammals. Science 267, 637–638 (1995)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Hedges, S., Parker, P., Sibley, C. & Kumar, S. Continental breakup and the ordinal diversification of birds and mammals. Nature 381, 226–229 (1996)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Cooper, A. & Penny, D. Mass survival of birds across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary: molecular evidence. Science 275, 1109–1113 (1997)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Cracraft, J. Avian evolution, Gondwana biogeography and the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction event. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 268, 459–469 (2001)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. van Tuinen, M. & Hedges, B. Calibration of avian molecular clocks. Mol. Biol. Evol. 18, 206–213 (2001)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Feduccia, A. ‘Big bang’ for Tertiary birds? Trends Ecol. Evol. 18, 172–176 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. van Tuinen, M., Paton, T., Haddrath, O. & Baker, A. ‘Big bang’ for Tertiary birds? A replay. Trends Ecol. Evol. 18, 442–443 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Ericson, P. G. P. et al. A Gondwanan origin of passerine birds supported by DNA sequences of the endemic New Zealand wrens. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 269, 235–241 (2002)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Harrison, G. L. et al. Four new avian mitochondrial genomes help get to basic evolutionary questions in the late Cretaceous. Mol. Biol. Evol. 21, 974–983 (2004)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Groth, J. & Barrowclough, G. Basal divergences in birds and the phylogenetic utility of the nuclear RAG-1 gene. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 12, 115–123 (1999)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Stidham, T. A lower jaw from a Cretaceous parrot. Nature 396, 29–30 (1998)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Kurochkin, E., Dyke, G. & Karhu, A. A new presbyornithid bird (Aves: Anseriformes) from the Late Cretaceous of southern Mongolia. Am. Mus. Novit. 3386, 1–11 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Hope, S. in Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs (eds Chiappe, L. M. & Witmer, L. M.) 339–388 (Univ. California Press, Berkeley, 2002)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Dyke, G. & van Tuinen, M. The evolutionary radiation of modern birds (Neornithes): reconciling molecules, morphology and the fossil record. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 141, 153–177 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Noriega, J. & Tambussi, C. A Late Cretaceous Presbyornithidae (Aves: Anseriformes) from Vega Island, Antarctic Peninsula: paleobogeographic implications. Ameghiniana 32, 57–61 (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Livezey, B. The fossil Presbyornis and the interordinal relationships of waterfowl. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 121, 361–428 (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Ericson, P. Systematic revision, skeletal anatomy, and paleoecology of the New World early Tertiary Presbyornithidae (Aves: Anseriformes). PaleoBios 20, 1–23 (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Ketcham, R. A. & Carlson, W. D. Acquisition, optimization and interpretation of X-ray computed tomographic imagery: Applications to the geosciences. Comput. Geosci. 27, 381–400 (2001)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Clarke, J. & Norell, M. The morphology and phylogenetic position of Apsaravis ukhaana from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. Am. Mus. Novit. 3387, 1–47 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Mayr, G. & Clarke, J. The deep divergences of neornithine birds: a phylogenetic analysis of morphological characters. Cladistics 19, 553 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Marenssi, S., Salani, S. & Santillana, S. Geología de cabo Lamb, isla Vega, Antártida. Contribución Instituto Antártico Argentino 530, 1–43 (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Ericson, P. New material of Juncitarsus (Phoenicopteridae), with a guide for differentiating that genus from the Presbyornithidae (Aves: Anseriformes). Smithson. Contr. Paleobiol. 89, 245–251 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Francillon-Viellot et al. in Biomineralization: Patterns and Evolutionary Trends (ed. Carter, J. G.) 471–530 (Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1990)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Chinsamy, A. in Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs (eds Chiappe, L. M. & Witmer, L. M.) 421–431 (Univ. California Press, Berkeley, 2002)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Padian, K., de Ricqlés, A. J. & Horner, J. R. Dinosaurian growth rates and bird origins. Nature 412, 405–408 (2001)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Cooper, A. & Fortey, R. Evolutionary explosions and the phylogenetic fuse. Trends Ecol. Evol. 13, 151–156 (1998)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Olson, S. & Feduccia, A. Relationships and evolution of flamingos (Aves: Phoenicopteridae). Smithson. Contr. Zool. 316, 1–73 (1980)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Swofford, D. L. PAUP* Phylogenetic analysis using parsimony (*and other methods). Version 4.0. (Sinaur Associates, Sunderland, 2002)

  29. Olson, S. The anseriform relationships of Anatalavis Olson and Parris (Anseranatidae), with a new species of the London Clay. Smithson. Contr. Paleobiol. 89, 231–243 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Museo de La Plata for permission to CT scan and sample MLP 93-I-3-1 for histological analysis; M. Fox for repreparation of the fossil; M. Reguero, S. Marenssi and E. Olivero for stratigraphic information; T. Rowe and J. Humphries of UTCT lab for assistance with CT imaging; R. Edwards for photographs; A. Viñas for line drawings; B. Creisler for consultation on species name validity; and M. Norell for comments on the manuscript. Support for this project from an NSF Office of Polar Programs grant to J.A.C., the AMNH Division of Paleontology and Yale University is gratefully acknowledged.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 8208, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27695, USA

    Julia A. Clarke

  2. North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, 11 West Jones Street, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27601-1029, USA

    Julia A. Clarke

  3. Museo de La Plata-CONICET, Paseo del Bosque s/n. (1900), La Plata, Argentina

    Claudia P. Tambussi

  4. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y TTP- CONICET, Matteri y España, 3105, Diamante, Entre Ríos, Argentina

    Jorge I. Noriega

  5. Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Conradi Building, Dewey Street and Palmetto Drive, Tallahassee, Florida, 32306-1100, USA

    Gregory M. Erickson

  6. Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79 Street, New York, New York, 10024-5192, USA

    Gregory M. Erickson

  7. Department of Geology, The Field Museum, 1400 South Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois, 60605, USA

    Gregory M. Erickson

  8. High-Resolution X-Ray Computed Tomography Facility, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station, C-1100, Austin, Texas, 78712-0254, USA

    Richard A. Ketcham

Authors

  1. Julia A. Clarke

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Claudia P. Tambussi

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jorge I. Noriega

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Gregory M. Erickson

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Richard A. Ketcham

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Julia A. Clarke.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Data

This file contains the following sections: I. Photograph and volume renderings using CT data, highlighting the bone and rendering the matrix semi-transparent to elements preserved within the other half of the Vegavis iaai concretion (MLP 93-I-3-1). II. Photograph of the latex peel of the primary block of the Vegavis iaai concretion (MLP 93-I-3-1) prior to preparation. III. Characters able to be evaluated for Vegavis of the analyzed datasets and the states present in that taxon (entries take the form "character number: character state"). IV. Measurements of the Vegavis iaai holotype specimen (MLP 93-I-3-1) and additional differential diagnosis from Presbyornithidae. V. Details of the provenience of the Vegavis iaai holotype specimen. The file also contains further information concerning the CT data, and additional references. (DOC 3020 kb)

About this article

Cite this article

Clarke, J., Tambussi, C., Noriega, J. et al. Definitive fossil evidence for the extant avian radiation in the Cretaceous. Nature 433, 305–308 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03150

Download citation

  • Received: 16 July 2004

  • Accepted: 19 October 2004

  • Issue Date: 20 January 2005

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03150

Editorial Summary

Flying with dinosaurs

A rare fossil of a bird from Antarctica flies into the eye of a storm. The fossil, believed to be a close relative of modern ducks and geese, lived towards the end of the Cretaceous about 70 million years ago. The suggestion that the line that leads to today's birds can be identified as distinct from other dinosaurs this early will be controversial. Until now, fossil evidence has indicated that ‘modern’ birds evolved only after the dinosaurs became extinct, 65 million years ago. Even though evidence from molecules suggests that modern orders of bird existed well before that date, this evidence has been hotly contested.

Associated content