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Heyuannia (Oviraptorosauria) wrist osteology (free pdf)
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Ben Creisler
Jul 10, 2024, 11:47:34 AM7/10/24
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Ben Creisler
A new paper:
Rui Qiu, Yanli Du, Zhiqing Huang, Xufeng Zhu, Xiaoli Yang, Qiang Wang & Xiaolin Wang (2024)
The osteology of the wrist of Heyuannia huangi (Oviraptorosauria) and its implications for the wrist folding mechanism.
PeerJ 12:e17669
doi: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17669
https://peerj.com/articles/17669/
The wrist of extant birds is highly specialized which permits folding of the forelimb in order to protect the pennaceous feathers when they are relaxed. This mechanism is absent in most non-avian theropods and is unknown in oviraptorosaurs because of the rarity of the specimens with well-preserved wrist. Here we give a detailed description of the wrist of two three-dimensionally preserved oviraptorosaurian Heyuannia huangi specimens from the Upper Cretaceous in Southern China. Heyuannia huangi possesses a highly specialized wrist with a strongly dorsoventrally compressed distal ulna, a larger radiale angle and a strongly convex semilunate carpal. The morphology of its wrist suggests that the distal ulna would not hinder the rotation of the manus, resulting in the smallest angle between the manus and the ulna being less than 90 degrees. The combination of the morphology of the wrist of oviraptorosaurs and the phylogenetic result indicates functional convergence in the wrist of oviraptorids and extant birds.
Free pdf:
Rui Qiu, Yanli Du, Zhiqing Huang, Xufeng Zhu, Xiaoli Yang, Qiang Wang & Xiaolin Wang (2024)
The osteology of the wrist of Heyuannia huangi (Oviraptorosauria) and its implications for the wrist folding mechanism.
PeerJ 12:e17669
doi: https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17669
https://peerj.com/articles/17669/
The wrist of extant birds is highly specialized which permits folding of the forelimb in order to protect the pennaceous feathers when they are relaxed. This mechanism is absent in most non-avian theropods and is unknown in oviraptorosaurs because of the rarity of the specimens with well-preserved wrist. Here we give a detailed description of the wrist of two three-dimensionally preserved oviraptorosaurian Heyuannia huangi specimens from the Upper Cretaceous in Southern China. Heyuannia huangi possesses a highly specialized wrist with a strongly dorsoventrally compressed distal ulna, a larger radiale angle and a strongly convex semilunate carpal. The morphology of its wrist suggests that the distal ulna would not hinder the rotation of the manus, resulting in the smallest angle between the manus and the ulna being less than 90 degrees. The combination of the morphology of the wrist of oviraptorosaurs and the phylogenetic result indicates functional convergence in the wrist of oviraptorids and extant birds.
Tim Williams
Jul 12, 2024, 3:22:00 AM7/12/24
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The fact that a derived oviraptorosaur like _Heyuannia_ has a more 'advanced' (bird-like) wing-folding mechanism than the basal oviraptorosaur _Caudipteryx_ might argue against oviraptorosaurs being secondarily flightless. As the authors propose, this feature is due to convergence between
_Heyuannia_ and birds.
More generally, the function(s) of _Heyuannia_'s feathered forelimbs might have been display, and maybe defense and intraspecific combat (hence the large, sharp claws). The hands would have been of little if any use for grasping.
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