Zhengheornis, new avialan from Upper Jurassic of China (free pdf)
159 views
Skip to first unread message
Ben Creisler
Jul 1, 2026, 2:29:59 PMJul 1
to DinosaurMa...@googlegroups.com
Ben Creisler
A new paper:
Zhengheornis buyu gen. et sp. nov.
Min Wang, Jianrong Tang, Ke Deng, Liping Dong, Liming Xu, Xing Xu, Min Lin, Honggang Du, Ganmin Lin, Runsheng Chen, Chi Zhang, and Zhonghe Zhou (2026)
Jurassic avialan reveals stepwise evolution of bony tail in birds
Science Advances 12(27): eaeb5202
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aeb5202
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aeb5202
Free pdf:
https://www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.1126/sciadv.aeb5202
The evolutionary assembly of the flight-adapted bird body plan encompasses some of the most profound morphological changes in terrestrial vertebrate history. Beyond feathered wings, the short pygostyle-bearing tail has been pivotal to the clade’s ecological success. However, transition from the long bony tail to the short pygostyle-bearing tail remains a mystery, hindered by the scarcity of early branching avialans with transitional morphologies. Here, we report on a new avialan, Zhengheornis buyu, gen. et sp. nov., from the Upper Jurassic of southeastern China, suggesting that the vertebral reduction and shortening preceded pygostyle fusion in early avialan evolution, providing critical evidence for the stepwise evolution of the bird tail. Z. buyu is smaller than all known non-pygostylian paravians, expanding the species and body size diversity of stemward taxa.
=====
Free pdf:
Zhengheornis buyu gen. et sp. nov.
Min Wang, Jianrong Tang, Ke Deng, Liping Dong, Liming Xu, Xing Xu, Min Lin, Honggang Du, Ganmin Lin, Runsheng Chen, Chi Zhang, and Zhonghe Zhou (2026)
Jurassic avialan reveals stepwise evolution of bony tail in birds
Science Advances 12(27): eaeb5202
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aeb5202
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aeb5202
Free pdf:
https://www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.1126/sciadv.aeb5202
The evolutionary assembly of the flight-adapted bird body plan encompasses some of the most profound morphological changes in terrestrial vertebrate history. Beyond feathered wings, the short pygostyle-bearing tail has been pivotal to the clade’s ecological success. However, transition from the long bony tail to the short pygostyle-bearing tail remains a mystery, hindered by the scarcity of early branching avialans with transitional morphologies. Here, we report on a new avialan, Zhengheornis buyu, gen. et sp. nov., from the Upper Jurassic of southeastern China, suggesting that the vertebral reduction and shortening preceded pygostyle fusion in early avialan evolution, providing critical evidence for the stepwise evolution of the bird tail. Z. buyu is smaller than all known non-pygostylian paravians, expanding the species and body size diversity of stemward taxa.
=====
Mickey Mortimer
Jul 4, 2026, 5:29:51 AMJul 4
to Dinosaur Mailing Group
I think Wang et al. got the ischium backwards. The supposed pubic peduncle is so anteriorly/distally placed that the ischial peduncle of the ilium would be REALLY anteroposteriorly long, like more than any other Mesozoic theropod, and irregular bulging up into the ilium (B). If anything, this orientation of the ischium would match a proximally placed obturator process and distal boot (C), which makes no sense for a maniraptoran. But if you flip it, you get a shorter ilial articulation, dorsoventrally thicker pubic articulation, AND a proximodorsal ischial process and no obturator process like most taxa at this stage (D). Their reconstruction (A) hides things by making the pelvis so big that to have the ischial-ilial articulation seem okay, parts of the ischium overhang the anterior and posterior ilial peduncle edges, and the pubic articulation becomes so dorsoventrally narrow and anteroposteriorly long, and just drawing the ischium wrong.
Thoughts?
Mickey Mortimer
Thoughts?
Mickey Mortimer
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages