Morphometric analysis of the cervical vertebral series in extant birds with implications for Mesozoic avialan feeding ecology

分类： 生物学 >> 人类学 提交时间： 2024-03-06

Liu Bi-Ying Thomas A. STIDHAM Wang Xiao-Ping Li Zhi-Heng Zhou Zhong-He

摘要： The inference of Mesozoic avialan bird diets previously relied on traditional methods such as morphological comparisons among taxa and direct evidence such as identifiable stomach contents. However, the application of these approaches has been limited because of uncommon preservation of relevant fossil evidence. We searched for additional informative characteristics to help develop new methods to assess the diet of fossil birds. In particular, the morphology of the avialan neck is highly modularized and plays roles in multiple functions including food acquisition. The structure of and variation among the cervical vertebrae likely reflects the demands of feeding ecology in fossil and extant birds because the avialan neck evolved to, at least in part, replace the forelimbs by assisting with activities such as cranioinertial feeding and other ecological functions. Here, we utilize morphometric and statistical analyses to establish an initial quantitative relationship between cervical morphology and dietary modes in both extant and extinct birds. This morphometric framework derived from the cervical morphology of living birds is used as a basis to estimate the diet categories of five taxa of Mesozoic birds. The results indicate that there is a quantitative correlation between cervical morphology differentiation and their interrelated feeding modes. The enantiornithine taxa examined exhibit cervical morphologies similar to extant insectivorous or carnivorous birds. The ornithurine species show cervical morphologies that are more aligned with generalist or herbivorous birds, and exhibit preliminary morphological features tied to aquatic adaptions. These findings are consistent in part with other direct fossil evidence, as well as hypotheses developed from other skeletal comparisons. Therefore, the cervical vertebral series, as a skeletal system closely linked to food acquisition, can serve as one of the valuable metrics to provide information for inferring the diet of long extinct Mesozoic birds.

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