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Vegaviidae

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Vegaviidae
Temporal range:MaastrichtianUncertainCampanianandPaleocenerecords
Life restoration ofVegavis iaai
Scientific classificationEdit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: †Vegaviiformes
Worthy et al., 2017
Family: †Vegaviidae
Agnolín et al., 2017
Genera

Vegaviidaeis an extinct family ofbirdsof uncertain phylogenetic placement, which existed during theLate Cretaceousand possibly thePaleocene.Definitive fossils attributed to the family have only been found inAntarctica,though other fossils from theSouthern HemisphereincludingChileandNew Zealandmay represent this group.[1][2]The putativeCampanianvegaviid fromCanadaknown asMaaqwi,[3]more likely belongs to theProcellariformes.[2]

Previously the generaNeogaeornisandPolarorniswere classified as stem-loonsbased on the similarities in the anatomy of the leg structure.[4][5][6]However, there were some criticism to these assertions as the material are from incomplete specimens from Antarctica lacking several important loon characteristics.[7][8]

In 2017 Agnolín and colleagues performed a phylogenetic analysis of these genera in addition to the newly discoveredAustralornisandVegavis,the latter genus of which a more complete specimen had been found.[9]This allowed the team to do anatomical comparisons between these genera.[1]They found support for them making up a family of birds showing specializations to diving, classified as the sister taxon tocrownAnseriformes.[1]This was interpreted as evidence that some families of modern birds crossed theK–Pg boundaryunaffected by the extinction event that occurred.[1]The authors also stated this is further evidence ofGondwanahaving an important role for the evolution of modern birds.[1]

Another 2017 paper by Worthyet al.focusing on the evolution and phylogenetic relationships of giantfowlfound weak support for Vegaviidae being the sister taxon toGastornithiformes(the clade includingGastornithidaeand themihirungs).[10]The description and phylogenetic placement ofMaaqwiby McLachlan et al. (2017) found an alternative position for vegaviids as stem-birds in the more inclusive clade Ornithurae.[3]

Mayr et al. (2018) did a review of vegaviid systematics stating that whileVegavisandPolarornisare likely sister genera based on overall similarities in their femur andtibiotarsalbones, the inclusion of other taxa, particularlyAustralornis,is poorly supported.[11]Furthermore, they argued that comparison of the plesiomorphic traits of the pterygoid and the mandible does not seem to firmly establish anseriform orgalloanserineaffinities for Vegaviidae, and commented that to try to classify all southern hemisphere birds into a single clade is premature as it may not illustrate the complex relationships and the convergent evolution birds have undergone.[11]He also suggested that it is uncertain whetherNeogaeornisbelongs to the family since the specimen shows traits of other bird groups including those of podicipediform and gaviiform,[11]but if it were true, then bothNeogaeornisand possibly the closely relatedAntarcticavismight represent vegaviids.[2]

Field et al. (2020) consideredVegavisto be either a sister taxon to theNeornithesoutside thecrown groupbirds, or as a taxon at the base ofNeognathaewith an unresolved position.[12]While other researchers have recoveredVegavisas a neornithine, they did not consider it to be a member of Anseriformes or Galloanserae, since they cannot find any diagnostic traits of those clades.[13][14]In contrast,Vegaviswas recovered as a sister taxon ofAnatidaeorAnseriformesbased on phylogenetic analyses in 2024.[15][16]

References

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  1. ^abcdeAgnolín, F.L.; Egli, F.B.; Chatterjee, S.; Marsà, J.A.G (2017). "Vegaviidae, a new clade of southern diving birds that survived the K/T boundary".The Science of Nature.104(87): 87.Bibcode:2017SciNa.104...87A.doi:10.1007/s00114-017-1508-y.PMID28988276.S2CID13246547.
  2. ^abcMayr, G. (2022). "Basic Terminology and the Broader Phylogenetic and Geological Framework)".Paleogene Fossil Birds.Springer Cham. pp. 3–27.doi:10.1007/978-3-030-87645-6_2.
  3. ^abSandy M. S. McLachlan; Gary W. Kaiser; Nicholas R. Longrich (2017)."Maaqwi cascadensis:A large, marine diving bird (Avialae: Ornithurae) from the Upper Cretaceous of British Columbia, Canada ".PLOS ONE.12(12): e0189473.Bibcode:2017PLoSO..1289473M.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0189473.PMC5722380.PMID29220405.
  4. ^Olson, S (1992). "Neogaeornis wetzeliLambrecht, a Cretaceous loon from Chile (Aves, Gaviidae) ".Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.12(1): 122–124.doi:10.1080/02724634.1992.10011438.
  5. ^Hope, S. (2002). "The Mesozoic radiation of Neornithes." Pp. 339-388 in Chiappe, L.M. and Witmer, L. (eds.),Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs.
  6. ^Carolina Acosta Hospitaleche, Javier N. Gelfo, New Antarctic findings of Upper Cretaceous and lower Eocene loons (Aves: Gaviiformes), Annales de Paléontologie Volume 101, Issue 4, October–December 2015, Pages 315–324
  7. ^Feduccia, A. (1999).The Origin and Evolution of Birds.2nd edition. Yale University Press.
  8. ^Mayr, G (2004)."A partial skeleton of a new fossil loon (Aves, Gaviiformes) from the early Oligocene of Germany with preserved stomach content"(PDF).Journal of Ornithology.145(4): 281–286.doi:10.1007/s10336-004-0050-9.S2CID1070943.
  9. ^Clarke, J.A.; Chatterjee, S.; Li, Z.; Riede, T.; Agnolin, F.; Goller, F.; Isasi, M.P.; Martinioni, D.R.; Mussel, F.J.; Novas, F.E. (2016). "Fossil evidence of the avian vocal organ from the Mesozoic".Nature.538(7626): 502–505.Bibcode:2016Natur.538..502C.doi:10.1038/nature19852.PMID27732575.S2CID4389926.
  10. ^Worthy, T.H.; Degrange, F.J.; Handley, W.D.; Lee, M.S.Y. (2017)."The evolution of giant flightless birds and novel phylogenetic relationships for extinct fowl (Aves, Galloanseres)".Royal Society Open Science.11(10): 170975.Bibcode:2017RSOS....470975W.doi:10.1098/rsos.170975.PMC5666277.PMID29134094.
  11. ^abcMayr, G.; De Pietri, V.L.; Scofield, R.P.; Worthy, T.H. (2018). "On the taxonomic composition and phylogenetic affinities of the recently proposed clade Vegaviidae Agnolín et al., 2017 ‒ neornithine birds from the Upper Cretaceous of the Southern Hemisphere)".Cretaceous Research.86:178–185.doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2018.02.013.hdl:2328/37887.S2CID134876425.
  12. ^Field, Daniel J.; Benito, Juan; Chen, Albert; Jagt, John W. M.; Ksepka, Daniel T. (18 March 2020). "Late Cretaceous neornithine from Europe illuminates the origins of crown birds".Nature.579(7799): 397–401.doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2096-0.ISSN1476-4687.PMID32188952.S2CID212937591.
  13. ^Acosta Hospitaleche C, Worthy TH (2021). "New data on theVegavis iaaiholotype from the Maastrichtian of Antarctica ".Cretaceous Research.124.104818.Bibcode:2021CrRes.12404818A.doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2021.104818.S2CID233703816.
  14. ^Álvarez-Herrera, G. P.; Rozadilla, S.; Agnolín, F. L.; Novas, F. E. (2024). "Jaw anatomy ofVegavis iaai(Clarke et al., 2005) from the Late Cretaceous Antarctica, and its phylogenetic implications ".Geobios.83:11–20.doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2023.03.004.S2CID259955013.
  15. ^Musser, G.; Clarke, J. A. (2024)."A new Paleogene fossil and a new dataset for waterfowl (Aves: Anseriformes) clarify phylogeny, ecological evolution, and avian evolution at the K-Pg Boundary".PLOS ONE.19(7). e0278737.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0278737.PMC11288464.PMID39078833.
  16. ^Crane, A.; Benito, J.; Chen, A.; Musser, G.; Torres, C. R.; Clarke, J. A.; Lautenschlager, S.; Ksepka, D. T.; Field, D. J."Taphonomic damage obfuscates interpretation of the retroarticular region of theAsteriornismandible ".Geobios.doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2024.03.003.
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