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Fossil find suggests ancestral bird beak was mobile

A 67-million-year-old fossil bird found in Europe provides evidence suggesting that scientists should reconsider centuries-old ideas about the nature of the ancestral avian beak.
  1. Christopher R. Torres

    1. Christopher R. Torres is at the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA.

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When it comes to understanding the earliest evolution of modern birds, beak structure is crucial. It was mainly differences in the beak — specifically, the structure of the bony palate in the roof of the mouth that supports the beak — that enabled researchers to distinguish between the earliest-known divergence of modern birds: their split into two daughter lineages1. On one side of that divergence is a group termed Palaeognathae, comprising flightless birds called ratites (ostriches, emus, rheas, cassowaries and kiwis) and flying birds called tinamous. On the other side is a group called Neognathae, which consists of all other living birds. Those names hint at the conventional idea about which beak type came first: Palaeognathae (meaning ‘ancient jaw’) inherited their condition from pre-modern birds, whereas Neognathae (‘new jaw’) have a palate thought to have arisen later. Writing in Nature, Benito et al.2 turn that transition around with their report of Janavis finalidens, an ancient bird with surprising stories to tell about the early evolution of modern birds and the organization of that all-important palate.

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Nature 612, 35-36 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-03692-7

References

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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