Digital restoration of the pectoral girdles of two Early Cretaceous birds and implications for early-flight evolution.

ABSTRACT: The morphology of the pectoral girdle, the skeletal structure connecting the wing to the body, is a key determinant of flight capability, but in some respects is poorly known among stem birds. Here, the pectoral girdles of the Early Cretaceous birds Sapeornis and Piscivorenantiornis are reconstructed for the first time based on computed tomography and three-dimensional visualization, revealing key morphological details that are important for our understanding of early-flight evolution. Sapeornis exhibits a double articulation system (widely present in non-enantiornithine pennaraptoran theropods including crown birds), which involves, alongside the main scapula-coracoid joint, a small subsidiary joint, though variation exists with respect to the shape and size of the ma

SUBMITTER: Wang S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9023055 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature