Hummingbird-sized dinosaur from the Cretaceous period of Myanmar

doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2068-4

IVPP-IR > 中科院古脊椎所（2000年以后）

	Hummingbird-sized dinosaur from the Cretaceous period of Myanmar
	Xing, Lida 1,2; O'Connor, Jingmai K.3,4; Schmitz, Lars 5,6,7,8; Chiappe, Luis M.5; McKellar, Ryan C.9,10; Yi, Qiru 11; Li, Gang 11,12
	2020-03-01
发表期刊	NATURE
ISSN	0028-0836
卷号	579 期号:7798 页码:245-+
通讯作者	O'Connor, Jingmai K.(jingmai@ivpp.ac.cn)
摘要	Skeletal inclusions in approximately 99-million-year-old amber from northern Myanmar provide unprecedented insights into the soft tissue and skeletal anatomy of minute fauna, which are not typically preserved in other depositional environments(1-3). Among a diversity of vertebrates, seven specimens that preserve the skeletal remains of enantiornithine birds have previously been described(1,4-8), all of which (including at least one seemingly mature specimen) are smaller than specimens recovered from lithic materials. Here we describe an exceptionally well-preserved and diminutive bird-like skull that documents a new species, which we name Oculudentavis khaungraae gen. et sp. nov. The find appears to represent the smallest known dinosaur of the Mesozoic era, rivalling the bee hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae)-the smallest living bird-in size. The O. khaungraae specimen preserves features that hint at miniaturization constraints, including a unique pattern of cranial fusion and an autapomorphic ocular morphology(9) that resembles the eyes of lizards. The conically arranged scleral ossicles define a small pupil, indicative of diurnal activity. Miniaturization most commonly arises in isolated environments, and the diminutive size of Oculudentavis is therefore consistent with previous suggestions that this amber formed on an island within the Trans-Tethyan arc(10). The size and morphology of this species suggest a previously unknown bauplan, and a previously undetected ecology. This discovery highlights the potential of amber deposits to reveal the lowest limits of vertebrate body size.
DOI	10.1038/s41586-020-2068-4
关键词[WOS]	BURMESE AMBER ; BODY-SIZE ; ENANTIORNITHINE ; MINIATURIZATION ; MORPHOLOGY ; EVOLUTION ; AGE
收录类别	SCI
语种	英语
资助项目	National Natural Science Foundation of China[41888101] ; National Natural Science Foundation of China[41790455] ; National Natural Science Foundation of China[41772008] ; National Geographic Society[EC0768-15] ; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada[2015-00681]
项目资助者	National Natural Science Foundation of China ; National Geographic Society ; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
WOS研究方向	Science & Technology - Other Topics
WOS类目	Multidisciplinary Sciences
WOS记录号	WOS:000519378900025
出版者	NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
引用统计
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.205/handle/311034/17245
专题	中科院古脊椎所（2000年以后）
通讯作者	O'Connor, Jingmai K.
作者单位	1.China Univ Geosci, State Key Lab Biogeol & Environm Geol, Beijing, Peoples R China 2.China Univ Geosci, Sch Earth Sci & Resources, Beijing, Peoples R China 3.Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Vertebrate Paleontol & Paleoanthropol, Key Lab Vertebrate Evolut & Human Origins, Beijing, Peoples R China 4.Chinese Acad Sci, Ctr Excellence Life & Paleoenvironm, Beijing, Peoples R China 5.Nat Hist Museum Los Angeles Cty, Dinosaur Inst, Los Angeles, CA USA 6.Claremont Mckenna Coll, WM Keck Sci Dept, Claremont, CA 91711 USA 7.Scripps Coll, WM Keck Sci Dept, Claremont, CA 91711 USA 8.Pitzer Coll, WM Keck Sci Dept, Claremont, CA 91711 USA 9.Royal Saskatchewan Museum, Regina, SK, Canada 10.Univ Regina, Dept Biol, Regina, SK, Canada 11.Chinese Acad Sci, Beijing Adv Sci & Innovat Ctr, Beijing, Peoples R China 12.Chinese Acad Sci, Inst High Energy Phys, Beijing, Peoples R China
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Xing, Lida,O'Connor, Jingmai K.,Schmitz, Lars,et al. Hummingbird-sized dinosaur from the Cretaceous period of Myanmar[J]. NATURE,2020,579(7798):245-+.
APA	Xing, Lida.,O'Connor, Jingmai K..,Schmitz, Lars.,Chiappe, Luis M..,McKellar, Ryan C..,...&Li, Gang.(2020).Hummingbird-sized dinosaur from the Cretaceous period of Myanmar.NATURE,579(7798),245-+.
MLA	Xing, Lida,et al."Hummingbird-sized dinosaur from the Cretaceous period of Myanmar".NATURE 579.7798(2020):245-+.