ArticleNature communications2022
Exceptional preservation and foot structure reveal ecological transitions and lifestyles of early theropod flyers.
Article in Nature communications, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Diet of bird-like troodontid dinosaurs: synthesis of a contentious clade.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2026Review
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- Epidermal scale growth, allometry and function in non-avian dinosaurs and extant reptiles.Journal of anatomy · 2025Article
- Forelimb feathering, soft tissues, and skeleton of the flying dromaeosaurid Microraptor.BMC ecology and evolution · 2025Article
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- New information on the Hind limb feathering, soft tissues and skeleton of Microraptor (Theropoda: Dromaeosauridae).BMC ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- 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 · 2025Review
- Hidden artistic complexity of Peru's Chancay culture discovered in tattoos by laser-stimulated fluorescence.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Cursorial ecomorphology and temporal patterns in theropod dinosaur evolution during the mid-Cretaceous.Royal Society open science · 2025Article
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- Morphological disparity and structural performance of the dromaeosaurid skull informs ecology and evolutionary history.BMC ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- Articular surface interactions distinguish dinosaurian locomotor joint poses.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Quantitative investigation of pengornithid enantiornithine diet reveals macrocarnivorous ecology evolved in birds by Early Cretaceous.iScience · 2023Article
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10 authors.
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Abstract
Morphology of keratinised toe pads and foot scales, hinging of foot joints and claw shape and size all inform the grasping ability, cursoriality and feeding mode of living birds. Presented here is morphological evidence from the fossil feet of early theropod flyers. Foot soft tissues and joint articulations are qualitatively assessed using laser-stimulated fluorescence. Pedal claw shape and size are quantitatively analysed using traditional morphometrics. We interpret these foot data among existing evidence to better understand the evolutionary ecology of early theropod flyers. Jurassic flyers like Anchiornis and Archaeopteryx show adaptations suggestive of relatively ground-dwelling lifestyles. Early Cretaceous flyers then diversify into more aerial lifestyles, including generalists like Confuciusornis and specialists like the climbing Fortunguavis. Some early birds, like the Late Jurassic Berlin Archaeopteryx and Early Cretaceous Sapeornis, show complex ecologies seemingly unique among sampled modern birds. As a non-bird flyer, finding affinities of Microraptor to a more specialised raptorial lifestyle is unexpected. Its hawk-like characteristics are rare among known theropod flyers of the time suggesting that some non-bird flyers perform specialised roles filled by birds today. We demonstrate diverse ecological profiles among early theropod flyers, changing as flight developed, and some non-bird flyers have more complex ecological roles.
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