INVESTIGADORES
BERTELLI Sara Beatriz
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
New records of fossil birds from the Lower Eocene Fur Formation of Denmark
Autor/es:
LINDOW, B.E.K.; BERTELLI, S.; CHIAPPE, L.M.; DYKE, G.J.
Lugar:
Londres
Reunión:
Simposio; 53rd Symposium of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Comparative Anatomy; 2005
Institución organizadora:
The Natural History Museum
Resumen:
Previous records of fossil birds from the Early Eocene Für Formation, Denmark Previous studies of the earliest Eocene (Ypresian) Für Formation of Denmark have revealed a diverse fossil avian fauna. Among them are a number of articulated, three-dimensionally preserved skeletons, which represent some of the best and earliest fossil remains of anatomically modern birds (Neornithes). Situated immediately after the Palaeocene-Eocene extinction event, these fossils will provide important insights on the diversification and evolution of modern birds during the Palaeogene. Also, incorporation of these well-preserved fossils into phylogenetic analyses will provide an important key to the interrelationships within and between clades of modern birds. However, until now the fossil specimens remain largely unpublished,The Für Formation is chiefly a diatomite deposited in a subtropical sea with dysoxic to anoxic oxygen bottom conditions. This has resulted in other remarkable states of fossil preservation; fossilisation of soft tissue structures, such äs imprints of the scales of the leg or carbonised imprints of feathers are not uncommon. Among the previously unpublished fossil material from the Für Formation is an articulated charadriiform (shorebird), which is the geologically oldest well-preserved fossil representative of the Order. A preliminary cladistic analysis indicates that the specimen is closely related to modern gulls (Laridae: Larini), and it will be used to shed further light on the interrelationships and evolution of the order Charadriiformes.