Re: [dinosaur] What is the earliest known bird

[Mickey Mortimer <mickey_mortimer111@msn.com>]

If we mean Avialae (closer to Aves than Deinonychus), I'd say the earliest known are the trio of scansoriopterygids Ambopteryx, Scansoriopteryx (= Epidendrosaurus) and Epidexipteryx, from the Bathonian-Callovian Haifanggou and Jiulongshan Formations.  Even if troodontids, unenlagiids and/or archaeopterygids/anchiornithids are also avialans, these have them all beat except that Pedopenna would tie the record if its an archaeopterygid.

Mickey Mortimer

---

From: dinosaur-l-request@mymaillists.usc.edu <dinosaur-l-request@mymaillists.usc.edu> on behalf of Thomas Richard Holtz <tholtz@umd.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2021 5:14 AM
To: Yazbeck, Thomas <yazbeckt@msu.edu>
Cc: dinosaur-l@usc.edu <dinosaur-l@usc.edu>; Poekilopleuron <dinosaurtom2015@seznam.cz>
Subject: Re: [dinosaur] What is the earliest known bird

 

Do not forget Asteriornis, a crown-bird from the Maastrichtian of Belgium (depending on the dating of Vegavis it may be younger than the Antarctic bird, or at the same age.)

If you mean "Avialae", then Archaeopteryx loses out to the Oxfordian-aged Tiaojishan Formation forms like Anchiornis (which most recent phylogenies agree is also more closer to modern birds than to dromaeosaurids).

The vernacular "bird" is so arbitrary, though: do you mean Aves? Ornithurae? Euornithes? Ornithothoraces? Pygostylia? Avialae? Eumaniraptora? Pennaraptora?

On Tue, Apr 27, 2021 at 2:42 AM Yazbeck, Thomas <yazbeckt@msu.edu> wrote:

Aves, in the strictest sense? Probably Vegavis, from Antarctica. Crown-group birds (ratites+neognaths=Neornithes) are the most 'certain' clade to call Aves, and I doubt that they existed more than 75-80 million years ago. There are multiple different definitions of Aves, and the further back you go, the fuzzier things get. Others will probably be able to answer this question better than me, but for simplicity, I think of just Neornithes, or perhaps Ornithuromorpha or Pygostylia, as the 'bird clade'. There is simply too much uncertainty about A. lithographica, Anchiornis and other Jurassic taxa and where they belong phylogenetically. What is certain is that this will continue to inspire research for years to come.

Thomas Yazbeck

---

From: dinosaur-l-request@mymaillists.usc.edu <dinosaur-l-request@mymaillists.usc.edu> on behalf of Poekilopleuron <dinosaurtom2015@seznam.cz>
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2021 2:28 AM
To: dinosaur-l@usc.edu <dinosaur-l@usc.edu>; tholtz@umd.edu <tholtz@umd.edu>
Subject: [dinosaur] What is the earliest known bird

 

Good day!

Using currently most widely accepted phylogeny, what is the earliest known "bird"? Is it Archaeopteryx lithographica or rather some of the Chinese taxa? Thank you in advance! Tom

--

Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
Email: tholtz@umd.edu         Phone: 301-405-4084
Principal Lecturer, Vertebrate Paleontology

Office: Geology 4106, 8000 Regents Dr., College Park MD 20742

Dept. of Geology, University of Maryland
http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/

Phone: 301-405-6965
Fax: 301-314-9661              

Faculty Director, Science & Global Change Program, College Park Scholars

Office: Centreville 1216, 4243 Valley Dr., College Park MD 20742
http://www.geol.umd.edu/sgc
Fax: 301-314-9843

Mailing Address:        Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
                        Department of Geology
                        Building 237, Room 1117

                        8000 Regents Drive
                        University of Maryland
                        College Park, MD 20742-4211 USA