Transcript Evolutionary History of Bird Feathers

Evolutionary History of Bird Feathers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeopteryx
Matthew F. Tabor
Bird Phylogeny
http://oficina.cienciaviva.pt/~pw011/jazidas/interrelacoes_theropoda.html
Origin of Feathers
Prum – Development and Evolutionary Origin of Feathers, 1999
http://imgur.com/gallery/NIqNFYr
http://photos.divydovy.com/keyword/lizard/44807374_JTLd9Sj#!i=44807374&k=JTLd9Sj
Reptiles in hot climates tend to have longer scales, perhaps as a shield to
intense solar radiation. Regal – The Evolutionary Origin of Feathers, 1975
Feathers may originate from claws, rather than scales.
Kaiser – The Inner Bird: Anatomy and Evolution, 2007
- Modern bird plumage reflects UV light.
- Birds can see UV light.
- This adaptation might facilitate UV
protection, display, or both.
Bennett & Owens – Evolutionary Ecology of Birds, 2002
- Symmetrical, tuberculate scales not
like overlapping squamate scales.
Dhouailly - A new scenario for the evolutionary origin of hair,
feather, and avian scales, 2009
Origin of Feathers cont.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/apr/04/giant-feathered-dinosaur-china-big-fly#_
Early proto-feathers were
probably used for insulation
and adapted later for display
and camouflage.
Longrich et al. - Primitive Wing Feather
Arrangement
in
Archaeopteryx
lithographica and Anchiornis huxleyi, 2012
Pegomastax
Some basal proto-feathers don’t appear to have
been useful for insulation.
(this conflicts with Longrich et al, top right)
Different dinosaurs may have independently
evolved or lost feathers for different reasons.
Lawrence M. Witmer – Dinosaurs: Fuzzy origins for feathers, 2009
http://www.livescience.com/23655-fanged-dracula-dinosaur-fossils.html
Filamentous integumentary structures may have
been dermal, rather than epidermal.
Different Types of Feathers
• Proto-feathers, Quills, “Dinofuzz”
Lawrence M. Witmer – Dinosaurs: Fuzzy origins for feathers, 2009
• Ribbon-like feathers
Zhang, et al - A bizarre Jurassic maniraptoran from China with elongate ribbon-like feathers, 2008
• Pennaceous
– Down
– Contour
http://www.fernbank.edu/Birding/feathers.htm
http://www.birdsofseabrookisland.org/topics/feather_structure.html
Other Possible Uses of Feathers
“…by the Late Cretaceous, dinosaurs were doing
everything with feathers that modern birds do now…”
Scott Persons, Paleontology Researcher - University of Alberta
http://phys.org/news/2013-01-evidence-dinosaurs-feathers-courtship.html#nRlv
http://www.livescience.com/3410-feathers-tied-origin-dinosaurs.html
“Epidexipteryx's ribbon-like tail
feathers could have served as
ornamentation as well as balancing
tools for help with creeping along
tree branches.”
Zhonghe Zhou - Institute of Vertebrate
Paleontology and Paleoanthropology at the
Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/27324139/ns/techn
ology_and_science-science/t/fine-feathered-dinosported-bizarre-bird-tail/#.UZGwv3kSF8F
- Dinosaurs were probably visually oriented
Tianyulong
Lawrence Witmer, Anatomist – Ohio State University
- Proto-feathers may have resembled porcupine quills.
- May have made smaller animals look bigger.
Paul Sereno, Paleontologist – University of Chicago
http://www.livescience.com/23655-fanged-dracula-dinosaur-fossils.html
“Quantitative comparisons with melanosome shape and
density in extant feathers indicate that the body was gray
and dark and the face had rufous speckles. The crown was
rufous, and the long limb feathers were white with distal
black spangles. “
“The evolution of melanin-based within-feather
pigmentation patterns may coincide with that of elongate
pennaceous feathers in the common ancestor of
Maniraptora, before active powered flight.”
“Feathers may thus have played a role in sexual selection or
other communication. “
Li et al. - Plumage Color Patterns of an Extinct Dinosaur, 2010
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/27324139/ns/technology_and_sciencescience/t/fine-feathered-dino-sported-bizarre-bird-tail/#.UYxRynmwXkI
“…theropod feathers served primarily in the creation of a
visual cue capable of triggering a behavioral response in an
individual perceiving this cue…”
Dimond et al. - Feathers, Dinosaurs, and Behavioral Cues: Defining the Visual Display
Hypothesis for the Adaptive Function of Feathers in Non-Avian Theropods, 2011
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchiornis
Feathers and even “Wings” Predate Birds
“This dinosaur was covered in down-like feathers
throughout life, but only older individuals
developed larger feathers on the arms, forming
wing-like structures. “
This discovery of early wings in dinosaurs too big to
fly indicates the initial use of these structures was
not for flight.
“The fact that wing-like forelimbs developed in
more mature individuals suggests they were used
only later in life, perhaps associated with
reproductive behaviors like display or egg
brooding.”
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121025150357.htm
Zelenitsky, et al. - Feathered Non-Avian Dinosaurs from North America
Provide Insight into Wing Origins, 2012
http://t-pekc.deviantart.com/art/Ornithomimus-edmontonicus-338165655
Sexual Selection and the
Handicap Principle
“An individual with a well developed sexually selected
character [such as a peacock's flashy tail] is an
individual which has survived a test. A female which
could discriminate between a male possessing a
sexually selected character, from one without it, can
discriminate between a male which has passed a test
and one which has not been tested. Females which
selected males with the most developed characters
can be sure that they have selected from among the
best genotypes of the male population.” Amotz Zahavi
Friend - Animal Talk: Breaking the Codes of Animal Language, 2004
Peacocks with the most eye spots (greatest train
volume) really do have the healthiest offspring!
Petrie - Improved growth and survival of offspring of peacocks with more elaborate trains, 1994
Sexual preference becomes reliably coupled with
honest signaling, creating a positive feedback loop.
Similicaudiptery and other Oviraptors likely
shook their plummage in courtship displays
Persons et al - Oviraptorosaur tail forms and functions, 2013
http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2013/02/04/171086622/dinosaurs-with-attitude
http://www.mrwallpaper.com/peacock-tail-wallpaper/
Uses of Pre-flight Feathers Summarized
• Physical
– Protection from UV radiation
– Thermoregulation
– Nesting
– Balance
– Body Protection • Visual
– Water resistance
– Species identification
– “Trapping” prey
– Sexual selection & competition
http://wisecreatures.blogspot.com/2010/06/happy-fathers-day.html
– Camouflage
– Warning coloration
– “Looking bigger”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/etiennedej/7097329509/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7921854.stm
http://www.rareresource.com/pho_sinosauropterx.htm
http://www.birdholidays.co.uk/birdwatching_GUYANA_photo_1.htm
http://www.redbubble.com/people/smudgeart/works/1156571-male-mallard-duck
http://www.naturephoto-cz.com/wood-duck-photo-3840.html
http://www.bergoiata.org/fe/divers02/25.htm
http://www.scienceofcorrespondences.com/bird-of-paradise.htm
Conclusion
• Multiple
avian
anatomical
and
behavioral
characteristics predate flight by millions of years.
• Flight was a bonus of avian evolution; not a “goal.”
• Multiple avian features were adaptations to selection
pressures unrelated to flight, but were coopted to flight
in late theropod evolution.
• Only one of these clades survived the K-T extinction
event and was ecologically released as modern birds.
• Emergence of flight was multifactorial and cannot be
reduced to a single simple model.
References
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Bennett & Owens (2002) Evolutionary Ecology of Birds. Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press
Dhouailly (2009) A new scenario for the evolutionary origin of hair, feather, and avian scales. Journal of
Anatomy, 214(4), 587–606. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2008.01041.x
Dimond, Cabin & Brooks (2011) Feathers, Dinosaurs, and Behavioral Cues: Defining the Visual Display
Hypothesis for the Adaptive Function of Feathers in Non-Avian Theropods. BIOS, 82(3), 58-63: doi:
10.1893/011.082.0302
Friend (2004) Animal Talk: Breaking the Codes of Animal Language. New York, NY: Free Press
Kaiser (2007) The Inner Bird: Anatomy and Evolution. University of British Columbia Press
Li, Gao, Vinther, Shawkey, Clarke, D’Alba, Meng, Briggs & Prum (2010) Plumage Color Patterns of an Extinct
Dinosaur. Science, 327 (5971), 1369-1372: doi: 10.1126/science.1186290
Longrich, Vinther, Meng, Li & Russell (2012) Primitive Wing Feather Arrangement in Archaeopteryx
lithographica and Anchiornis huxleyi. Current Biology, 22, 1–6: doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2012.09.052
Persons, Currie & Norell (2013) Oviraptorosaur tail forms and functions. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, doi:
10.4202/app.2012.0093
Petrie (1994) Improved growth and survival of offspring of peacocks with more elaborate trains. Nature, 371,
598-599: doi: 10.1038/371598a0
Prum (1999) Development and Evolutionary Origin of Feathers. Journal of Experimental Zoology (Molecular and
Developmental Evolution), 285, 291-306.
Witmer (2009) Fuzzy origins for feathers. Nature, 458, 293-295: doi: 10.1038/458293a
Zelenitsky, Therrien, Erickson, DeBuhr, Kobayashi, Eberth, & Hadfield (2012) Feathered Non-Avian Dinosaurs
from North America Provide Insight into Wing Origins. Science, 338, 510-14: doi: 10.1126/science.1225376
Zhang, Zhou, Xu, Wang & Sullivan (2008) A bizarre Jurassic maniraptoran from China with elongate ribbon-like
feathers. Nature, 455, 1105-1108: doi: 10.1038/nature07447