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- Publisher Website: 10.1038/s41559-018-0728-7
- Scopus: eid_2-s2.0-85058904105
- PMID: 30568282
- WOS: WOS:000453767000010
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Article: Pterosaur integumentary structures with complex feather-like branching
Title | Pterosaur integumentary structures with complex feather-like branching |
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Authors | |
Keywords | anatomy and histology animal dinosaur feather fossil |
Issue Date | 2019 |
Publisher | Nature Publishing Group. The Journal's web site is located at https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/ |
Citation | Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2019, v. 3 n. 1, p. 24-30 How to Cite? |
Abstract | Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to achieve true flapping flight, but in the absence of living representatives, many questions concerning their biology and lifestyle remain unresolved. Pycnofibres—the integumentary coverings of pterosaurs—are particularly enigmatic: although many reconstructions depict fur-like coverings composed of pycnofibres, their affinities and function are not fully understood. Here, we report the preservation in two anurognathid pterosaur specimens of morphologically diverse pycnofibres that show diagnostic features of feathers, including non-vaned grouped filaments and bilaterally branched filaments, hitherto considered unique to maniraptoran dinosaurs, and preserved melanosomes with diverse geometries. These findings could imply that feathers had deep evolutionary origins in ancestral archosaurs, or that these structures arose independently in pterosaurs. The presence of feather-like structures suggests that anurognathids, and potentially other pterosaurs, possessed a dense filamentous covering that probably functioned in thermoregulation, tactile sensing, signalling and aerodynamics. |
Persistent Identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/10722/272894 |
ISSN | 2023 Impact Factor: 13.9 2023 SCImago Journal Rankings: 5.056 |
ISI Accession Number ID |
DC Field | Value | Language |
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dc.contributor.author | Yang, Z | - |
dc.contributor.author | Jiang, B | - |
dc.contributor.author | McNamara, ME | - |
dc.contributor.author | Kearns, SL | - |
dc.contributor.author | Pittman, M | - |
dc.contributor.author | Kaye, TG | - |
dc.contributor.author | Orr, PJ | - |
dc.contributor.author | Xu, X | - |
dc.contributor.author | Benton, MJ | - |
dc.date.accessioned | 2019-08-06T09:18:34Z | - |
dc.date.available | 2019-08-06T09:18:34Z | - |
dc.date.issued | 2019 | - |
dc.identifier.citation | Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2019, v. 3 n. 1, p. 24-30 | - |
dc.identifier.issn | 2397-334X | - |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10722/272894 | - |
dc.description.abstract | Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to achieve true flapping flight, but in the absence of living representatives, many questions concerning their biology and lifestyle remain unresolved. Pycnofibres—the integumentary coverings of pterosaurs—are particularly enigmatic: although many reconstructions depict fur-like coverings composed of pycnofibres, their affinities and function are not fully understood. Here, we report the preservation in two anurognathid pterosaur specimens of morphologically diverse pycnofibres that show diagnostic features of feathers, including non-vaned grouped filaments and bilaterally branched filaments, hitherto considered unique to maniraptoran dinosaurs, and preserved melanosomes with diverse geometries. These findings could imply that feathers had deep evolutionary origins in ancestral archosaurs, or that these structures arose independently in pterosaurs. The presence of feather-like structures suggests that anurognathids, and potentially other pterosaurs, possessed a dense filamentous covering that probably functioned in thermoregulation, tactile sensing, signalling and aerodynamics. | - |
dc.language | eng | - |
dc.publisher | Nature Publishing Group. The Journal's web site is located at https://www.nature.com/natecolevol/ | - |
dc.relation.ispartof | Nature Ecology & Evolution | - |
dc.rights | This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Nature Ecology & Evolution. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0728-7 | - |
dc.subject | anatomy and histology | - |
dc.subject | animal | - |
dc.subject | dinosaur | - |
dc.subject | feather | - |
dc.subject | fossil | - |
dc.title | Pterosaur integumentary structures with complex feather-like branching | - |
dc.type | Article | - |
dc.identifier.email | Pittman, M: mpittman@hku.hk | - |
dc.identifier.authority | Pittman, M=rp01622 | - |
dc.description.nature | postprint | - |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1038/s41559-018-0728-7 | - |
dc.identifier.pmid | 30568282 | - |
dc.identifier.scopus | eid_2-s2.0-85058904105 | - |
dc.identifier.hkuros | 300841 | - |
dc.identifier.volume | 3 | - |
dc.identifier.issue | 1 | - |
dc.identifier.spage | 24 | - |
dc.identifier.epage | 30 | - |
dc.identifier.isi | WOS:000453767000010 | - |
dc.publisher.place | United Kingdom | - |
dc.identifier.issnl | 2397-334X | - |