Episode 458: Past Bones: Feathers

Episode 458: Past Bones: Feathers. Plus a mammal discovered fossilized on best of (and most probably combating) a Psittacosaurus

Information:

• A brand new sport of the colour on Wulong’s spectacular feathers supply
• Beetles present in amber munching on cretaceous dinosaur feathers supply
• 2004 paper concerning the first ever parasitic louse discovered within the fossil file (which was once consuming dinosaur feathers) supply
• Maximum (possibly all) trendy birds molt at least one time a yr, however Mesozoic dinosaurs will have molted much less often supply

The dinosaur of the day: Caudipteryx

• Basal oviraptor theropod that lived within the Early Cretaceous in what’s now Liaoning Province, China (Yixian Formation)
• Seemed very birdlike, coated in black downy feathers, with lengthy legs, an extended neck, brief hands with feathers on it, tail feathers, and a rounded snout
• Peacock sized
• Estimated to be nearly 2 feet 5 in to just about 3 feet (about 0.7 to 0.9 m) lengthy and weigh 11 lb (5 kg), according to its femur
• Very gentle, with refined bones
• Had a box-like cranium
• Had huge eyes
• Had a brief snout and no longer many enamel
• Had small, vulnerable enamel
• Had a hallux (first toe) that can had been in part reversed/backward going through and had frame proportions like trendy flightless birds
• Most likely may perch, like some trendy birds
• Like early birds and the oviraptorid Heyuannia, had a brief 3rd finger on its arms
• Had brief claws on its arms
• Hand is longer than both the humerus or radius (arm bones)
• Had lengthy legs, and most probably was once a quick runner
• Considered secondarily flightless (advanced from animals that might fly)
• Had a extremely advanced wishbone, or furcula, like trendy birds
• Wishbone very similar to Archaeopteryx, Confuciusornis, and different non-avian theropods
• In 2019, Arindan Roy and others discovered the feathers of Caudipteryx to be black and the tail feathers to have a banding development
• Had a brief tail that was once stiff towards the end/finish, very similar to birds and oviraptorosaurs
• Had partial to feathers on its tail
• Had feathers with vanes and barbs on its arms (between nearly 6 to eight in or 15 to twenty cm lengthy)
• Had longer, symmetrical feathers on its hands and tail, most probably for show or brooding (symmetrical feathers manner it couldn’t fly)
• Downy feathers most probably stored it heat
• In 2018, Yaser Talori and others experimented with a robotic Caudipteryx with reasonable wing proportions to check if the feathers at the wings helped it run sooner
• Discovered that if wings have been mounted and prolonged out, would have best helped with small quantities of raise and drag. Identical with flapping whilst operating
• In line with effects, discovered that its feathers have been most probably for show
• Perhaps helped with turning, like ostriches do
• In 2019, Yaser Talori and others re-examined how Caudipteryx used its feathers and used the robotic once more
• Estimated the max operating velocity to be about 8 m/s (meters in step with 2d)
• Discovered that whilst operating, there would had been some pressured vibrations that taught it to flap its wings
• In 2022 Jing-Shan Zhao and others, together with Yaser Talori, went again to the Caudipteryx robotic and located extra beef up that flapping advanced lengthy ahead of feathered dinosaurs may fly (flapped whilst operating at the floor)
• Most likely omnivorous, even though most likely an herbivore
• Perhaps ate bugs and vegetation
• Two folks had been discovered with gastroliths
• Had an extended neck, with ten vertebrae (later one person discovered with 12 vertebrae)
• In line with the neck and gastroliths, regarded as most likely herbivorous
• Two species: Caudipteryx zoui and Caudipteryx dongi
• Kind species in Caudipteryx zoui
• Genus title manner “tail feather”
• Named via Ji Qiang and others in 1998
• A number of skeletons had been discovered, and primary bones present in 1997
• Kind specimen discovered was once as regards to mature when it died, according to fusions and ossifications within the bones
• Species title “zoui” refers to “Zou Jiahua, vice-premier of China and an avid supporter of the medical paintings in Liaoning”
• 2nd species, Caudipteryx dongi, named in 2000 via Zhong-He Zhou and Xiao-Lin Wang
• Just about whole skeleton present in 1998, with neatly preserved wing feathers, just about whole hands, hindlimbs, and pelvis (no cranium)
• Extra articulated than the sort species, and was once a big person
• Caudipteryx dongi had a quite lengthy higher part of the pelvis, in comparison to Caudipteryx zoui, and smaller sternum (heart a part of chest)
• Had a brief first toe (hallux) that faces backward, so will have been in a position to perch
• Had pores and skin impressions at the hands and arms, and “the surface doubles the width of the digits when the animal was once alive”
• Species title “dongi” “refers to Zhiming Dong, a outstanding Chinese language dinosaur professional”
• Now not all scientists suppose Caudipteryx is an oviraptor
• Some scientists suppose it was once a fowl
• On account of Caudipteryx, there’s been a lot of debate about how birds and dinosaurs are similar
• In 1998 when Caudipteryx was once named, there was once debate at the beginning and evolution of early birds and whether or not they advanced from coelurosaurian theropods
• When named, authors stated Caudipteryx represents “phases within the evolution of birds from feathered, ground-living bipedal dinosaurs”
• Clump of feathers preserved at the chest
• Authors named Caudipteryx according to two just about whole, partly articulated skeletons with feather impressions at the hands, tail, and frame (present in 1997). At the beginning regarded as a maniraptoran that’s nearer to birds than different dinosaurs (a lot of discussions since, and were when compared with oviraptors and flightless birds)
• When Caudipteryx was once described, it was once concept to give you the first proof of feathers in dinosaurs. However Zhou and Wang wrote: “This opinion, then again, has been challenged via many paleornithologists who recommend that Caudipteryx was once most probably a flightless fowl, a “Mesozoic kiwi””
• Within the paper naming Caudipteryx dongi, interpreted Caudipteryx as a feathered dinosaur, however authors stated “we consider the controversy at the dinosaurian or avian state of Caudipteryx and oviraptorids will proceed”
• In 2000, Jones and others stated Caudipteryx was once a flightless fowl, according to evaluating frame proportions of flightless birds and non-avian theropods
• In 2002, Teresa Maryanski and others discovered Caudipteryx to be each oviraptor and fowl (had feathers, oviraptors discovered to brood eggs)
• In 2005 Gareth Dyke and Mark Norell discovered Caudipteryx to be a non-avian theropod and no longer a flightless fowl
• Proportions of leg bones and heart of mass are extra very similar to trendy operating/cursorial birds than non-avian theropods, which is why some scientists discovered it to be a flightless fowl
• Dyke and Norell argued that the belief that Caudipteryx was once a flightless fowl was once according to the idea that birds don’t seem to be associated with non-bird theropods
• Lawrence Witmer stated, “The presence of unambiguous feathers in an unambiguously non-avian theropod has the rhetorical have an effect on of an atomic bomb, rendering any doubt concerning the theropod relationships of birds ludicrous.”
• In 2000, Xiaolin Wang and others studied two new specimens of Caudipteryx (each and every had skulls and have been just about utterly articulated)
• One referred to Caudipteryx zoui, the opposite an indeterminate species
• Discovered a lot of birdlike options however nonetheless discovered it to be a feathered dinosaur
• Discovered hallux is no less than partly reversed (backward), so ancestor of Caudipteryx most probably was once in a position to hang around in timber
• Specimens are rather smaller than the opposite ones discovered
• However their leg to arm ratio was once smaller than the bigger specimens, which would possibly imply the hands advanced previous than the legs
• In 2021, Xiaoting Zheng and others studied cartilage of Caudipteryx (cushy tissue!)
• Demineralized the fabric and stated it “presentations beautiful preservation”
• Discovered chondrocytes, which deal with cartilage and one had a nucleus and “fossilized threads of chromatin” (which is a mixture of DNA and proteins that shape the chromosomes present in cells), and stated it “retained a few of their authentic chemistry”
• Stated it was once the second one instance of fossilized chromatin threads. First one was once present in cartilage of the hadrosaur Hypacrosaurus
• Paper stated, “Those information display that one of the authentic nuclear biochemistry is preserved on this dinosaur cartilage subject material and extra beef up the speculation that cartilage may be very vulnerable to nuclear fossilization and an excellent candidate to additional perceive DNA preservation in deep time”
• Authors stated nuclei concept to degrade briefly after demise, however there are many fossil tissues with preserved nuclei (“from permafrost-preserved Cenozoic mammals, Mesozoic dinosaurs, quite a lot of Cenozoic, Mesozoic, and Paleozoic vegetation, or even embryo-like fossil cellular clusters which are greater than 600 Million years (My) outdated”)
• Additionally stated fresh taphonomy experiments on vegetation and algae confirmed nuclei to be extra solid and rot slower than up to now concept
• Cartilage present in mammals “is without doubt one of the maximum sturdy and rot resistant cushy tissues of the frame”, as it’s shielded via surrounding tissues, there’s no vascularization (blood vessels), which protects from microbial invasions, and has a “low cellular density and its cells have an anaerobic metabolism” (no oxygen)
• Chondrocytes have a lengthen in terms of self destruction of cells and tissues (referred to as autolysis) which is helping fossilize nuclei, and calcified cartilage appears to be much more decay resistant, so it’s no longer unexpected that fossilized calcified cartilage has “outstanding cell and nuclear preservation […] irrespective of the age of the fossil”
• Would possibly take a couple of weeks for chondrocytes to decay after an animal dies, which means that to ensure that nuclear preservation in cartilage, the animal doesn’t wish to be buried right away
• In comparison Caudipteryx to a rooster and located similarities
• In line with the chemistry of the tissues and surrounding sediments, discovered iron and different fabrics helped within the preservation, and those different fabrics are not unusual within the Jehol Biota (even though the iron got here later)
• Discovered a cartilage cellular nucleus (which has genetic subject material)
• “One of the authentic nuclear biochemistry is preserved on this dinosaur cartilage subject material”
• “It was once just lately proposed that although DNA is it sounds as if in a non-PCR amplifiable and non-sequenceable shape in Mesozoic fossils, one of the authentic chemistry and molecules would possibly nonetheless be preserved within the type of DNA fossilization merchandise. This may occasionally give an explanation for why some dinosaur cells can nonetheless react with DNA stains, although a DNA collection hasn’t ever been authenticated in any fossil a lot older than ~1.2 My. Even supposing the effects introduced listed below are initial chemical information, they nonetheless beef up the speculation regarding DNA fossilization merchandise and reaffirm that a lot more efforts wish to be made to research all of the unanswered questions on DNA preservation in deep time, particularly in fossilized cartilage.”
• Different dinosaurs that lived round the similar time and position come with the tyrannosauroid Dilong and the dromaeosaur Sinornithosaurus

Amusing Truth:

Small mammals on occasion attacked a lot better dinosaurs within the Mesozoic. A brand new fossil turns out to turn a Repenomamus (a mammal) attacking a Psittacosaurus.

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