A precocial avian embryo from the Lower Cretaceous of China |
| |
Authors: | Zhou Zhonghe Zhang Fucheng |
| |
Institution: | Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Post Office Box 643, Beijing 100044, China. zhonghe@yeah.net |
| |
Abstract: | An embryo of an enantiornithine bird has been recovered from the Lower Cretaceous rocks of Liaoning, in northeast China. The bird has a nearly complete articulated skeleton with feather sheet impressions and is enclosed in egg-shaped confines. The tucking posture of the skeleton suggests that the embryo had attained the final stage of development. The presence of well-developed wing and tail feather sheets indicates a precocial developmental mode, supporting the hypothesis that precocial birds appeared before altricial birds. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 PubMed 等数据库收录! |
|