The evolution of giant flightless birds and novel phylogenetic relationships for extinct fowl (Aves, Galloanseres)
Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. The extinct dromornithids, gastornithids and phorusrhacids are among the most...
Published in: | Royal Society Open Science |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
The Royal Society
2017
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/2328/37693 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170975 |
id |
ftflindersuniv:oai:dspace.flinders.edu.au:2328/37693 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftflindersuniv:oai:dspace.flinders.edu.au:2328/37693 2023-05-15T14:04:11+02:00 The evolution of giant flightless birds and novel phylogenetic relationships for extinct fowl (Aves, Galloanseres) Worthy, Trevor Degrange, Federico Javier Handley, Warren Lee, Michael S Y 2017-10-11 http://hdl.handle.net/2328/37693 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170975 en eng The Royal Society http://purl.org/au-research/grants/ARC/DE130101133 ARC/DE130101133 Worthy TH, Degrange FJ, Handley WD, Lee MSY. 2017 The evolution of giant flightless birds and novel phylogenetic relationships for extinct fowl (Aves, Galloanseres). R.Soc.opensci. 4 : 170975. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170975 2054-5703 http://hdl.handle.net/2328/37693 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170975 Copyright 2017 The Authors. The Authors. CC-BY CC-BY Galloanseres Dromornithidae Gastornis Brontornis Fossil birds morphological phylogenetics Article 2017 ftflindersuniv https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170975 2020-11-09T09:07:56Z Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. The extinct dromornithids, gastornithids and phorusrhacids are among the most spectacular birds to have ever lived, with some giants exceeding 500 kg. The affinities and evolution of these and other related extinct birds remain contentious, with previous phylogenetic analyses being affected by widespread convergence and limited taxon sampling. We address these problems using both parsimony and tip-dated Bayesian approaches on an expansive taxon set that includes all key extinct flightless and flighted (e.g. Vegavis and lithornithids) forms, an extensive array of extant fowl (Galloanseres), representative Neoaves and palaeognaths. The Paleogene volant Lithornithidae are recovered as stem palaeognaths in the Bayesian analyses. The Galloanseres comprise four clades inferred to have diverged in the Late Cretaceous on Gondwana. In addition to Anseriformes and Galliformes, we recognize a robust new clade (Gastornithiformes) for the giant flightless Dromornithidae (Australia) and Gastornithidae (Eurasia, North America). This clade exhibits parallels to ratite palaeognaths in that flight presumably was lost and giant size attained multiple times. A fourth clade is represented by the Cretaceous Vegavis (Antarctica), which was strongly excluded from Anseriformes; thus, a crucial molecular calibration point needs to be reconsidered. The presbyornithids Wilaru (Australia) and Presbyornis (Northern Hemisphere) are robustly found to be the sister group to Anatoidea (Anseranatidae + Anatidae), a relatively more basal position than hitherto recognized. South America's largest bird, Brontornis, is not a galloansere, but a member of Neoaves related to Cariamiformes; therefore, giant Galloanseres remain unknown from this continent. Trait analyses showed that while gigantism and flightlessness evolved repeatedly in groups, diet is constrained by phylogeny: all giant Galloanseres and palaeognaths are herbivores or mainly herbivorous, and giant neoavians are zoophagous or omnivorous. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Flinders Academic Commons (FAC - Flinders University) Royal Society Open Science 4 10 170975 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Flinders Academic Commons (FAC - Flinders University) |
op_collection_id |
ftflindersuniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Galloanseres Dromornithidae Gastornis Brontornis Fossil birds morphological phylogenetics |
spellingShingle |
Galloanseres Dromornithidae Gastornis Brontornis Fossil birds morphological phylogenetics Worthy, Trevor Degrange, Federico Javier Handley, Warren Lee, Michael S Y The evolution of giant flightless birds and novel phylogenetic relationships for extinct fowl (Aves, Galloanseres) |
topic_facet |
Galloanseres Dromornithidae Gastornis Brontornis Fossil birds morphological phylogenetics |
description |
Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. The extinct dromornithids, gastornithids and phorusrhacids are among the most spectacular birds to have ever lived, with some giants exceeding 500 kg. The affinities and evolution of these and other related extinct birds remain contentious, with previous phylogenetic analyses being affected by widespread convergence and limited taxon sampling. We address these problems using both parsimony and tip-dated Bayesian approaches on an expansive taxon set that includes all key extinct flightless and flighted (e.g. Vegavis and lithornithids) forms, an extensive array of extant fowl (Galloanseres), representative Neoaves and palaeognaths. The Paleogene volant Lithornithidae are recovered as stem palaeognaths in the Bayesian analyses. The Galloanseres comprise four clades inferred to have diverged in the Late Cretaceous on Gondwana. In addition to Anseriformes and Galliformes, we recognize a robust new clade (Gastornithiformes) for the giant flightless Dromornithidae (Australia) and Gastornithidae (Eurasia, North America). This clade exhibits parallels to ratite palaeognaths in that flight presumably was lost and giant size attained multiple times. A fourth clade is represented by the Cretaceous Vegavis (Antarctica), which was strongly excluded from Anseriformes; thus, a crucial molecular calibration point needs to be reconsidered. The presbyornithids Wilaru (Australia) and Presbyornis (Northern Hemisphere) are robustly found to be the sister group to Anatoidea (Anseranatidae + Anatidae), a relatively more basal position than hitherto recognized. South America's largest bird, Brontornis, is not a galloansere, but a member of Neoaves related to Cariamiformes; therefore, giant Galloanseres remain unknown from this continent. Trait analyses showed that while gigantism and flightlessness evolved repeatedly in groups, diet is constrained by phylogeny: all giant Galloanseres and palaeognaths are herbivores or mainly herbivorous, and giant neoavians are zoophagous or omnivorous. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Worthy, Trevor Degrange, Federico Javier Handley, Warren Lee, Michael S Y |
author_facet |
Worthy, Trevor Degrange, Federico Javier Handley, Warren Lee, Michael S Y |
author_sort |
Worthy, Trevor |
title |
The evolution of giant flightless birds and novel phylogenetic relationships for extinct fowl (Aves, Galloanseres) |
title_short |
The evolution of giant flightless birds and novel phylogenetic relationships for extinct fowl (Aves, Galloanseres) |
title_full |
The evolution of giant flightless birds and novel phylogenetic relationships for extinct fowl (Aves, Galloanseres) |
title_fullStr |
The evolution of giant flightless birds and novel phylogenetic relationships for extinct fowl (Aves, Galloanseres) |
title_full_unstemmed |
The evolution of giant flightless birds and novel phylogenetic relationships for extinct fowl (Aves, Galloanseres) |
title_sort |
evolution of giant flightless birds and novel phylogenetic relationships for extinct fowl (aves, galloanseres) |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2328/37693 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170975 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica |
op_relation |
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/ARC/DE130101133 ARC/DE130101133 Worthy TH, Degrange FJ, Handley WD, Lee MSY. 2017 The evolution of giant flightless birds and novel phylogenetic relationships for extinct fowl (Aves, Galloanseres). R.Soc.opensci. 4 : 170975. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170975 2054-5703 http://hdl.handle.net/2328/37693 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170975 |
op_rights |
Copyright 2017 The Authors. The Authors. CC-BY |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170975 |
container_title |
Royal Society Open Science |
container_volume |
4 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
170975 |
_version_ |
1766275191768350720 |