Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36168759›Full record

ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2022

Fossil basicranium clarifies the origin of the avian central nervous system and inner ear.

Guillermo Navalón, Luis M Chiappe, Agustín G Martinelli, William Nava, Daniel J Field

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Insights into the early evolution of modern avian physiology from fossilized soft tissues from the Mesozoic.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Guillermo NavalónUnidad de Paleontología, Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.ORCID 0000-0002-2447-1275
Luis M ChiappeDinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, 900 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9661-0601
Agustín G MartinelliSección Paleontología de Vertebrados, CONICET-Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales 'Bernardino Rivadavia', Buenos Aires, Argentina.ORCID 0000-0003-4489-0888
William NavaMuseu de Paleontologia de Marília, Marília, São Paulo, Brazil.
Daniel J FieldDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-1786-0352

Funding

Medical Research Council MR/S032177/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Among terrestrial vertebrates, only crown birds (Neornithes) rival mammals in terms of relative brain size and behavioural complexity. Relatedly, the anatomy of the avian central nervous system and associated sensory structures, such as the vestibular system of the inner ear, are highly modified with respect to those of other extant reptile lineages. However, a dearth of three-dimensional Mesozoic fossils has limited our knowledge of the origins of the distinctive endocranial structures of crown birds. Traits such as an expanded, flexed brain, a ventral connection between the brain and spinal column, and a modified vestibular system have been regarded as exclusive to Neornithes. Here, we demonstrate all of these 'advanced' traits in an undistorted braincase from an Upper Cretaceous enantiornithine bonebed in southeastern Brazil. Our discovery suggests that these crown bird-like endocranial traits may have originated prior to the split between Enantiornithes and the more crownward portion of avian phylogeny over 140 Ma, while coexisting with a remarkably plesiomorphic cranial base and posterior palate region. Altogether, our results support the interpretation that the distinctive endocranial morphologies of crown birds and their Mesozoic relatives are affected by complex trade-offs between spatial constraints during development.

Indexed as

DinosaursEar, InnerAnimalsBiological EvolutionBirdsBrainFossilsMammalsPhylogenySkull Basebirdsbrainsdinosaursearendocraniumlabyrinth

Identifiers

PMID36168759
PMCPMC9515635

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.