Authors: Fernández, Mariela; Garcia, Rodolfo Andres; Fiorelli, Lucas Ernesto; Scolaro, Jose Alejandro; Salvador, Rodrigo B.; Cotaro, Carlos N.; Kaiser, Gary W.; Dyke, Gareth J.
Publication Date: 2013.
Language: English.
Abstract:
We report the first evidence for a nesting colony of Mesozoic birds on Gondwana: a fossil accumulation in Late Cretaceous rocks mapped and collected from within the campus of the National University of Comahue, Neuquén City, Patagonia (Argentina). Here, Cretaceous ornithothoracine birds, almost certainly Enanthiornithes, nested in an arid, shallow basinal environment among sand dunes close to an ephemeral water-course. We mapped and collected 65 complete, near-complete, and broken eggs across an area of more than 55 m2. These eggs were laid either singly, or occasionally in pairs, onto a sandy substrate. All eggs were found apparently in, or close to, their original nest site; they all occur within the same bedding plane and may represent the product of a single nesting season or a short series of nesting attempts. Although there is no evidence for nesting structures, all but one of the Comahue eggs were half-buried upright in the sand with their pointed end downwards, a position that would have exposed the pole containing the air cell and precluded egg turning. This egg position is not seen in living birds, with the exception of the basal galliform megapodes who place their eggs within mounds of vegetation or burrows. This accumulation reveals a novel nesting behaviour in Mesozoic Aves that was perhaps shared with the non-avian and phylogenetically more basal troodontid theropods.
Author affiliation: Fernández, Mariela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina
Author affiliation: Garcia, Rodolfo Andres. Universidad Nacional de Rio Negro. Sede Alto Valle. Instituto de Investigaciones En Paleobiologia y Geologia; Argentina
Author affiliation: Fiorelli, Lucas Ernesto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Transferencia Tecnológica de Anillaco; Argentina
Author affiliation: Scolaro, Jose Alejandro. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "san Juan Bosco"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentina
Author affiliation: Salvador, Rodrigo B.. Universidade de Sao Paulo. Instituto Quãmica de Sao Carlos; Brasil
Author affiliation: Cotaro, Carlos N.. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Centro Atómico Bariloche; Argentina
Author affiliation: Kaiser, Gary W.. Royal British Columbia Museum; Canadá
Author affiliation: Dyke, Gareth J.. University Of Southampton; Reino Unido
Repository: CONICET Digital (CONICET). Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Authors: Fernández, Mariela.; Garcia, Rodolfo A.; Fiorelli, Lucas E.; Scolaro, Jose A.; Salvador, Rodrigo B.; Cotaro, Carlos N.; Kaiser, Gary W.; Dyke, Gareth J.
Publication Date: 2013.
Language: English.
Abstract:
Author affiliation: Fernández, Mariela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte; Argentina
Author affiliation: Fernández, Mariela. Instituto de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina
Author affiliation: Garcia, Rodolfo A. Universidad Nacional de Rio Negro. Sede Alto Valle; Argentina
Author affiliation: Garcia, Rodolfo A. Instituto de Investigaciones En Paleobiologia y Geologia; Argentina
Author affiliation: Fiorelli, Lucas E. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Author affiliation: Fiorelli, Lucas E. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Transferencia Tecnológica de Anillaco; Argentina
Author affiliation: Scolaro, Jose A. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "san Juan Bosco"; Argentina.
Author affiliation: Scolaro, Jose A. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentina
Author affiliation: Salvador, Rodrigo B. Universidade de Sao Paulo. Instituto Quãmica de Sao Carlos; Brasil
Author affiliation: Cotaro, Carlos N. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Centro Atómico Bariloche; Argentina
Author affiliation: Kaiser, Gary W. Royal British Columbia Museum; Canadá
Author affiliation: Dyke, Gareth J. University Of Southampton; Reino Unido
We report the first evidence for a nesting colony of Mesozoic birds on Gondwana: a fossil accumulation in Late Cretaceous rocks mapped and collected from within the campus of the National University of Comahue, Neuquén City, Patagonia (Argentina). Here, Cretaceous ornithothoracine birds, almost certainly Enanthiornithes, nested in an arid, shallow basinal environment among sand dunes close to an ephemeral water-course. We mapped and collected 65 complete, near-complete, and broken eggs across an area of more than 55 m2. These eggs were laid either singly, or occasionally in pairs, onto a sandy substrate. All eggs were found apparently in, or close to, their original nest site; they all occur within the same bedding plane and may represent the product of a single nesting season or a short series of nesting attempts. Although there is no evidence for nesting structures, all but one of the Comahue eggs were half-buried upright in the sand with their pointed end downwards, a position that would have exposed the pole containing the air cell and precluded egg turning. This egg position is not seen in living birds, with the exception of the basal galliform megapodes who place their eggs within mounds of vegetation or burrows. This accumulation reveals a novel nesting behaviour in Mesozoic Aves that was perhaps shared with the non-avian and phylogenetically more basal troodontid theropods.
Repository: RID-UNRN (UNRN). Universidad Nacional de Río Negro