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| This bird hatchling lived in a lake environment and may have been born on the ground like some other extinct enantiornithine birds.
in Kaye, Pittman, Marugán-Lobón, et al., 2019.
Illustration: Julius T. Csotonyi
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Abstract
Laser-Stimulated Fluorescence (LSF) is used to identify fully fledged feathering in the hatchling enantiornithine bird specimen MPCM-LH-26189, supporting precocial nesting behavior in this extinct group. The LSF results include the detection of a long pennaceous wing feather as well as cover feathers around the body. The LSF technique showed improved detection limits over and above synchrotron and UV imaging which had both been performed on this specimen. The findings underscore the value of using a wide range of analytical techniques.
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| Figure 1 Spanish enantiornithine hatchling MPCM-LH-26189. (A) White light image of the counterslab. (B) Laser-Stimulated Fluorescence (LSF) image of the slab and counterslab combined (composite image) reveals brown patches around the specimen. These comprise of clumps of elongate feathers associated with the neck and wings (upper arrows; see Figs 2 and 3 for close-up images) as well as a single long pennaceous feather associated with the left wing (lower arrow; see Fig. 2E,F for close-up image). (C) White light image of the slab. Scale = 5 mm. |
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| A bird hatchling leaving its nest shortly after birth ~125 million years ago. This baby bird lived in a lake environment and may have been born on the ground like some other extinct enantiornithine birds.
Illustration: Julius T. Csotonyi / HKU Vertebrate Palaeontology Laboratory.
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Thomas G. Kaye, Michael Pittman, Jesús Marugán-Lobón, Hugo Martín-Abad, José Luis Sanz and Angela D. Buscalioni. 2019. Fully Fledged Enantiornithine Hatchling Revealed by Laser-Stimulated Fluorescence Supports Precocial Nesting Behavior. Scientific Reports. 9, 5006. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-41423-7
Ancient birds out of the egg running phys.org/news/2019-03-ancient-birds-egg.html via @physorg_com
