BIRDS of STONE Chinese Avian Fossils from the Age of Dinosaurs
Luis M. Chiappe and Meng Qingjin When fossils of birds from China’s Jehol region first appeared
Birds of Stone makes visible the unexpected avian diversity
in scientific circles, the world took notice. These Mesozoic
that blanketed the earth just a short time (geologically
masterpieces are between 120 and 131 million years old
speaking) after a dinosaur lineage gave rise to the first birds.
and reveal incredible details that capture the diversity of
Our visual journey through these fossils is guided by Luis M.
ancient bird life. Paleontologists all over the world began to
Chiappe, a world expert on early birds, and Meng Qingjin, a
collaborate with Chinese colleagues as new and wondrous
leading figure in China’s natural history museum community.
fossil-related discoveries became regular events. The pages
Together, they help us understand the “meaning” of each
of National Geographic and major scientific journals described
fossil by providing straightforward narratives that accompany
the intricate views of feathers as well as food still visible in
the full-page photographs of the Jehol discoveries.
the guts of these ancient birds. Now, for the first time, a sweeping collection of the most interesting of Jehol’s avian
Anyone interested in the history of life — from paleontologists
fossils is on display in this beautiful book.
to inquisitive birders — will find Birds of Stone an irresistible feast for the eyes and mind.
Captivating photographs of the world’s most detailed bird fossils illuminate the early diversity of avifauna.
Chiappe.indb 152
Luis M. Chiappe is the vice president for research and collections at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, where he directs the museum’s Dinosaur Institute, and an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California. He is the author of Glorified Dinosaurs: The Origin and Early Evolution of Birds and the coeditor of Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs. Meng Qingjin is the director of the Beijing Museum of Natural History, vice chairman of the Chinese Association of Natural Science Museums and the Beijing Zoological Society, and the director of China’s Natural History Museum Committee.
4/28/16 8:13 PM
The diversity of birds recorded in the Jehol Biota spans a large portion of the avian family tree and it includes examples that are anatomically similar to present-day birds. While still possessing small and densely packed teeth in the lower jaws and rear portion of the upper jaws (below), the 120-million-year-old Gansus zheni (left and overleaf ) is the most advanced bird known today from the Jehol Biota. Represented by dozens of specimens, the skeletal architecture of this bird indicates that it was most likely amphibious, foraging at and living in the interface between the shore and the water of the Jehol lakes. Dozens of specimens from a species closely related and contemporaneous to this bird, Gansus yumenensis, have been discovered in early Cretaceous lake sediments from sites representing environmental conditions similar to that of the Jehol but 2,000 kilometers (about 1,250 miles) to the west, in Gansu Province in northern China. These discoveries show that 120 million years ago, gansuids were broadly distributed in what is today northern China and inhabited similar coastal environments of freshwater lakes. These fossils also help alleviate a longstanding controversy. Using clock-like approaches to calibrate family trees of present-day birds based on the characteristics of their DnA, molecular researchers have consistently claimed that the first modern birds evolved deep in the Cretaceous Period, more than 100 million years ago. The paleontological evidence, however, has failed to demonstrate such an old origin. Fossils identified as belonging to Cretaceous lineages of modern birds are all limited to approximately the last 15 million years of the Cretaceous, between 80 and 65 million years ago. The existence of much older birds that are in many ways similar to their living relatives helps ease this decades-old debate. The anatomical proximity between the 120-million-year-old gansuids and their present-day counterparts thus makes the molecular claim for a deep Cretaceous evolutionary divergence of modern birds more plausible.
Gansus zheni BMNHC- PH1318 Jiufotang Formation sihedang, lingyuan County liaoning Province
Gansus zheni BMNHC- PH1392 Jiufotang Formation sihedang, lingyuan County liaoning Province
Th e Avia n F o s si l s o f J e ho l
105
Gansus zheni BMNHC- PH1343 Jiufotang Formation sihedang, lingyuan County liaoning Province
Most of the birds that lived during the Mesozoic era had teeth set in deep sockets. The vast majority of enantiornithines, including all known species from the Jehol Biota, were toothed as well. The teeth of these birds varied greatly in shape, size, number, and placement in the jaws. Sulcavis geeorum (left) might have carried up to 40 teeth distributed over much of its jaws; its stout teeth appear suited for cracking hard items. The teeth of the Jehol enantiornithines were typically high and pointy, but Pengornis houi (overleaf ) had teeth with low and dome-shaped crowns. Longipteryx chaoyangensis (below and overleaf ) had a handful of large, recurved teeth restricted to the tips of the jaws. in some of its relatives, Rapaxavis pani and Longirostravis hani, among others, the teeth were also clustered at the front of the jaws but they were tiny and peg-shaped. such a remarkable range in tooth shape and position underscores the wide variety of diets and feeding specializations of these birds. The delicate, pointy teeth of many of them might have been effective for piercing the soft bodies of the numerous insects that inhabited the ancient Jehol environments. The low-crowned teeth of Pengornis seem to be well adapted for crushing relatively hard food items, and the stout but pointy dentition of Sulcavis might have been suited for cracking harder foods, such as the shells of mollusks. The large teeth at the tips of the jaws of Longipteryx most likely helped in holding on to slick fish; in some fossils these teeth have crenulations on the rear edges of the crowns that resemble the saw-like edge of a harpoon (below).
Sulcavis geeorum BMNHC- PH805 Yixian Formation lamadong, Jianchang County liaoning Province
Longipteryx chaoyangensis DNHM- D2889 Yixian Formation Yuanjiawa, Chaoyang County liaoning Province
Th e A vian Fo ssi ls o f Je h o l
Longipteryx chaoyangensis BMNHC- PH826 Jiufotang Formation Dapingfang, Chaoyang County liaoning Province
(Previous spread) (left page) Rapaxavis pani DNHM-D2522 Jiufotang Formation lianhe, Chaoyang County liaoning Province (right page) Zhouornis hani BMNHC-PH756 Jiufotang Formation Xiaoyugou, Chaoyang County liaoning Province
Pengornis houi IVPP- V15336 Jiufotang Formation Dapingfang, Chaoyang County liaoning Province
83
BIRDS of STONE
Chinese Avian Fossils from the Age of Dinosaurs
Luis M. Chiappe and Meng Qingjin Publication date: November 2016 9 x 11, 304 pages 184 color photos, 5 b&w photos, 11 line drawings 978-1-4214-2024-0 $85.00 / ÂŁ55.00 hc Also available as an e-book
Sales queries: Kerry Cahill Sales Director 410-516-6936 Media queries: Kathryn Marguy Publicist 410-516-6930
press.jhu.edu