New specimens of Yanornis indicate a piscivorous diet and modern alimentary canal.

A crop adapted for an herbivorous diet of seeds has previously been documented in the Early Cretaceous birds Sapeornis and Hongshanornis. Here we report on several specimens of Yanornis that preserve a crop containing fish. One specimen preserves two whole fish in the oesophagus, indicating that Ear...

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Autores principales:	Xiaoting Zheng, Jingmai K O'Connor, Fritz Huchzermeyer, Xiaoli Wang, Yan Wang, Xiaomei Zhang, Zhonghe Zhou
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/77759b070f9d497d94520b45bf54603f
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:77759b070f9d497d94520b45bf54603f2021-11-18T08:23:21ZNew specimens of Yanornis indicate a piscivorous diet and modern alimentary canal.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0095036https://doaj.org/article/77759b070f9d497d94520b45bf54603f2014-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/24733485/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203A crop adapted for an herbivorous diet of seeds has previously been documented in the Early Cretaceous birds Sapeornis and Hongshanornis. Here we report on several specimens of Yanornis that preserve a crop containing fish. One specimen preserves two whole fish in the oesophagus, indicating that Early Cretaceous birds shared trophic specializations with Neornithes for the increased energetic demands of flight--namely the storing of food for later consumption when the stomach is full. Whole fish also indicate that despite their presence, teeth were not used to orally process food, suggesting the hypertrophied dentition in this taxon were utilized in prey capture. The presence of macerated fish bones in the crop of other specimens indicates the highly efficient advanced muscular system of peristalsis responsible for moving ingested items between different segments of the alimentary canal was also in place. Despite the fact many features of the modern avian alimentary canal are inferred to compensate for the absence of teeth in birds (expandable oesophagus, grinding gizzard), the derived alimentary canal was apparently present in toothed Cretaceous birds. Although Yanornis was considered to have switched their diet from piscivorous to herbivorous, based on position and morphology we reinterpret the gastroliths reported in one specimen as sand impacted in the intestines, and reconstruct the taxon as primarily piscivorous. This is a novel interpretation for fossilized gastroliths, and the first documentation of this condition in the fossil record.Xiaoting ZhengJingmai K O'ConnorFritz HuchzermeyerXiaoli WangYan WangXiaomei ZhangZhonghe ZhouPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 9, Iss 4, p e95036 (2014)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Xiaoting Zheng Jingmai K O'Connor Fritz Huchzermeyer Xiaoli Wang Yan Wang Xiaomei Zhang Zhonghe Zhou New specimens of Yanornis indicate a piscivorous diet and modern alimentary canal.
description	A crop adapted for an herbivorous diet of seeds has previously been documented in the Early Cretaceous birds Sapeornis and Hongshanornis. Here we report on several specimens of Yanornis that preserve a crop containing fish. One specimen preserves two whole fish in the oesophagus, indicating that Early Cretaceous birds shared trophic specializations with Neornithes for the increased energetic demands of flight--namely the storing of food for later consumption when the stomach is full. Whole fish also indicate that despite their presence, teeth were not used to orally process food, suggesting the hypertrophied dentition in this taxon were utilized in prey capture. The presence of macerated fish bones in the crop of other specimens indicates the highly efficient advanced muscular system of peristalsis responsible for moving ingested items between different segments of the alimentary canal was also in place. Despite the fact many features of the modern avian alimentary canal are inferred to compensate for the absence of teeth in birds (expandable oesophagus, grinding gizzard), the derived alimentary canal was apparently present in toothed Cretaceous birds. Although Yanornis was considered to have switched their diet from piscivorous to herbivorous, based on position and morphology we reinterpret the gastroliths reported in one specimen as sand impacted in the intestines, and reconstruct the taxon as primarily piscivorous. This is a novel interpretation for fossilized gastroliths, and the first documentation of this condition in the fossil record.
format	article
author	Xiaoting Zheng Jingmai K O'Connor Fritz Huchzermeyer Xiaoli Wang Yan Wang Xiaomei Zhang Zhonghe Zhou
author_facet	Xiaoting Zheng Jingmai K O'Connor Fritz Huchzermeyer Xiaoli Wang Yan Wang Xiaomei Zhang Zhonghe Zhou
author_sort	Xiaoting Zheng
title	New specimens of Yanornis indicate a piscivorous diet and modern alimentary canal.
title_short	New specimens of Yanornis indicate a piscivorous diet and modern alimentary canal.
title_full	New specimens of Yanornis indicate a piscivorous diet and modern alimentary canal.
title_fullStr	New specimens of Yanornis indicate a piscivorous diet and modern alimentary canal.
title_full_unstemmed	New specimens of Yanornis indicate a piscivorous diet and modern alimentary canal.
title_sort	new specimens of yanornis indicate a piscivorous diet and modern alimentary canal.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2014
url	https://doaj.org/article/77759b070f9d497d94520b45bf54603f
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New specimens of Yanornis indicate a piscivorous diet and modern alimentary canal.

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