On Tue, Aug 11, 2020 at 1:01 AM Ben Creisler <bcreisler@gmail.com> wrote:
Ben CreislerThanks for catching this. I checked bioRivÂearlier in the day, but I see a batch of new papersÂwas posted later.Note that this needs to be formally published in a journal to establish the use of the name Oculudentavis based on the original holotype.Just for the record, here's the full ref:=====
Arnau Bolet, Edward L. Stanley, Juan D. Daza, J. Salvador Arias, Andrej Cernansky, Marta Vidal-Garcia, Aaron M. Bauer, Joseph J. Bevitt, Adolf Peretti & Susan E. Evans (2020)
The tiny Cretaceous stem-bird Oculudentavis revealed as a bizarre lizard.
bioRxiv 2020.08.09.243048
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.09.243048
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.08.09.243048v1
Oculudentavis khaungraae was described based on a tiny skull trapped in amber. The slender tapering rostrum with retracted osseous nares, large eyes, and short vaulted braincase led to its identification as the smallest avian dinosaur on record, comparable to the smallest living hummingbirds. Despite its bird-like appearance, Oculudentavis showed several features inconsistent with its original phylogenetic placement. Here we describe a more complete, specimen that demonstrates Oculudentavis is actually a bizarre lizard of uncertain position. The new interpretation and phylogenetic placement highlights a rare case of convergent evolution rarely seen among reptiles. Our results re-affirm the importance of Myanmar amber in yielding unusual taxa from a forest ecosystem rarely represented in the fossil record.On Mon, Aug 10, 2020 at 9:20 PM Tim Williams <tijawi@gmail.com> wrote:... and definitely still called _Oculudentavis_.