Fossil evidence of the avian vocal organ from the Mesozoic
From complex songs to simple honks, birds produce sounds using a unique vocal organ called the syrinx. Located close to the heart at the tracheobronchial junction, vocal folds or membranes attached to modified mineralized rings vibrate to produce sound. Syringeal components were not thought to commo...
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ftunibueairesbd:todo:paper_00280836_v538_n7626_p502_Clarke 2023-10-29T02:32:29+01:00 Fossil evidence of the avian vocal organ from the Mesozoic Clarke, J.A. Chatterjee, S. Li, Z. Riede, T. Agnolin, F. Goller, F. Isasi, M.P. Martinioni, D.R. Mussel, F.J. Novas, F.E. https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_00280836_v538_n7626_p502_Clarke unknown http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_00280836_v538_n7626_p502_Clarke info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ar iodinated contrast medium brain Cretaceous dinosaur Eocene flight fossil record fossilization geometry Holocene passerine tomography animal tissue archosaur Article bird computer assisted tomography contrast enhancement fossil Mesozoic nonhuman Pleistocene priority journal syrinx taxon thoracic vertebra Upper Cretaceous Vegavis iaai vocal cord anatomy and histology animal animal structures Antarctica evolution skull species extinction vocalization Archosauria Aves Dinosauria Passeriformes Animals Antarctic Regions Biological Evolution JOUR ftunibueairesbd https://doi.org/20.500.12110/paper_00280836_v538_n7626_p502_Clarke 2023-10-05T01:16:12Z From complex songs to simple honks, birds produce sounds using a unique vocal organ called the syrinx. Located close to the heart at the tracheobronchial junction, vocal folds or membranes attached to modified mineralized rings vibrate to produce sound. Syringeal components were not thought to commonly enter the fossil record, and the few reported fossilized parts of the syrinx are geologically young (from the Pleistocene and Holocene (approximately 2.5 million years ago to the present)). The only known older syrinx is an Eocene specimen that was not described or illustrated. Data on the relationship between soft tissue structures and syringeal three-dimensional geometry are also exceptionally limited. Here we describe the first remains, to our knowledge, of a fossil syrinx from the Mesozoic Era, which are preserved in three dimensions in a specimen from the Late Cretaceous (approximately 66 to 69 million years ago) of Antarctica. With both cranial and postcranial remains, the new Vegavis iaai specimen is the most complete to be recovered from a part of the radiation of living birds (Aves). Enhanced-contrast X-ray computed tomography (CT) of syrinx structure in twelve extant non-passerine birds, as well as CT imaging of the Vegavis and Eocene syrinxes, informs both the reconstruction of ancestral states in birds and properties of the vocal organ in the extinct species. Fused rings in Vegavis form a well-mineralized pessulus, a derived neognath bird feature, proposed to anchor enlarged vocal folds or labia. Left-right bronchial asymmetry, as seen in Vegavis, is only known in extant birds with two sets of vocal fold sound sources. The new data show the fossilization potential of the avian vocal organ and beg the question why these remains have not been found in other dinosaurs. The lack of other Mesozoic tracheobronchial remains, and the poorly mineralized condition in archosaurian taxa without a syrinx, may indicate that a complex syrinx was a late arising feature in the evolution of birds, well after the origin ... Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Biblioteca Digital FCEN-UBA (Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Biblioteca Digital FCEN-UBA (Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires) |
op_collection_id |
ftunibueairesbd |
language |
unknown |
topic |
iodinated contrast medium brain Cretaceous dinosaur Eocene flight fossil record fossilization geometry Holocene passerine tomography animal tissue archosaur Article bird computer assisted tomography contrast enhancement fossil Mesozoic nonhuman Pleistocene priority journal syrinx taxon thoracic vertebra Upper Cretaceous Vegavis iaai vocal cord anatomy and histology animal animal structures Antarctica evolution skull species extinction vocalization Archosauria Aves Dinosauria Passeriformes Animals Antarctic Regions Biological Evolution |
spellingShingle |
iodinated contrast medium brain Cretaceous dinosaur Eocene flight fossil record fossilization geometry Holocene passerine tomography animal tissue archosaur Article bird computer assisted tomography contrast enhancement fossil Mesozoic nonhuman Pleistocene priority journal syrinx taxon thoracic vertebra Upper Cretaceous Vegavis iaai vocal cord anatomy and histology animal animal structures Antarctica evolution skull species extinction vocalization Archosauria Aves Dinosauria Passeriformes Animals Antarctic Regions Biological Evolution Clarke, J.A. Chatterjee, S. Li, Z. Riede, T. Agnolin, F. Goller, F. Isasi, M.P. Martinioni, D.R. Mussel, F.J. Novas, F.E. Fossil evidence of the avian vocal organ from the Mesozoic |
topic_facet |
iodinated contrast medium brain Cretaceous dinosaur Eocene flight fossil record fossilization geometry Holocene passerine tomography animal tissue archosaur Article bird computer assisted tomography contrast enhancement fossil Mesozoic nonhuman Pleistocene priority journal syrinx taxon thoracic vertebra Upper Cretaceous Vegavis iaai vocal cord anatomy and histology animal animal structures Antarctica evolution skull species extinction vocalization Archosauria Aves Dinosauria Passeriformes Animals Antarctic Regions Biological Evolution |
description |
From complex songs to simple honks, birds produce sounds using a unique vocal organ called the syrinx. Located close to the heart at the tracheobronchial junction, vocal folds or membranes attached to modified mineralized rings vibrate to produce sound. Syringeal components were not thought to commonly enter the fossil record, and the few reported fossilized parts of the syrinx are geologically young (from the Pleistocene and Holocene (approximately 2.5 million years ago to the present)). The only known older syrinx is an Eocene specimen that was not described or illustrated. Data on the relationship between soft tissue structures and syringeal three-dimensional geometry are also exceptionally limited. Here we describe the first remains, to our knowledge, of a fossil syrinx from the Mesozoic Era, which are preserved in three dimensions in a specimen from the Late Cretaceous (approximately 66 to 69 million years ago) of Antarctica. With both cranial and postcranial remains, the new Vegavis iaai specimen is the most complete to be recovered from a part of the radiation of living birds (Aves). Enhanced-contrast X-ray computed tomography (CT) of syrinx structure in twelve extant non-passerine birds, as well as CT imaging of the Vegavis and Eocene syrinxes, informs both the reconstruction of ancestral states in birds and properties of the vocal organ in the extinct species. Fused rings in Vegavis form a well-mineralized pessulus, a derived neognath bird feature, proposed to anchor enlarged vocal folds or labia. Left-right bronchial asymmetry, as seen in Vegavis, is only known in extant birds with two sets of vocal fold sound sources. The new data show the fossilization potential of the avian vocal organ and beg the question why these remains have not been found in other dinosaurs. The lack of other Mesozoic tracheobronchial remains, and the poorly mineralized condition in archosaurian taxa without a syrinx, may indicate that a complex syrinx was a late arising feature in the evolution of birds, well after the origin ... |
format |
Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Clarke, J.A. Chatterjee, S. Li, Z. Riede, T. Agnolin, F. Goller, F. Isasi, M.P. Martinioni, D.R. Mussel, F.J. Novas, F.E. |
author_facet |
Clarke, J.A. Chatterjee, S. Li, Z. Riede, T. Agnolin, F. Goller, F. Isasi, M.P. Martinioni, D.R. Mussel, F.J. Novas, F.E. |
author_sort |
Clarke, J.A. |
title |
Fossil evidence of the avian vocal organ from the Mesozoic |
title_short |
Fossil evidence of the avian vocal organ from the Mesozoic |
title_full |
Fossil evidence of the avian vocal organ from the Mesozoic |
title_fullStr |
Fossil evidence of the avian vocal organ from the Mesozoic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Fossil evidence of the avian vocal organ from the Mesozoic |
title_sort |
fossil evidence of the avian vocal organ from the mesozoic |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_00280836_v538_n7626_p502_Clarke |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_00280836_v538_n7626_p502_Clarke |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ar |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/20.500.12110/paper_00280836_v538_n7626_p502_Clarke |
_version_ |
1781053958299582464 |