Navalón Guillermo, Marugán-Lobón Jesús, Chiappe Luis M, Luis Sanz José, Buscalioni Ángela D
School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol, BS8 1RJ, UK.
Unidad de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Campus de Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain.
Sci Rep. 2015 Oct 6;5:14864. doi: 10.1038/srep14864.
Despite a wealth of fossils of Mesozoic birds revealing evidence of plumage and other soft-tissue structures, the epidermal and dermal anatomy of their wing's patagia remain largely unknown. We describe a distal forelimb of an enantiornithine bird from the Lower Cretaceous limestones of Las Hoyas, Spain, which reveals the overall morphology of the integument of the wing and other connective structures associated with the insertion of flight feathers. The integumentary anatomy, and myological and arthrological organization of the new fossil is remarkably similar to that of modern birds, in which a system of small muscles, tendons and ligaments attaches to the follicles of the remigial feathers and maintains the functional integrity of the wing during flight. The new fossil documents the oldest known occurrence of connective tissues in association with the flight feathers of birds. Furthermore, the presence of an essentially modern connective arrangement in the wing of enantiornithines supports the interpretation of these primitive birds as competent fliers.
尽管有大量中生代鸟类化石揭示了羽毛和其他软组织结构的证据，但它们翅膀翼膜的表皮和真皮解剖结构在很大程度上仍然未知。我们描述了一种来自西班牙拉斯奥亚斯下白垩统石灰岩的反鸟亚纲鸟类的前肢远端，它揭示了翅膀皮肤的整体形态以及与飞羽插入相关的其他结缔结构。新化石的皮肤解剖结构、肌肉组织学和关节学组织与现代鸟类非常相似，在现代鸟类中，一个由小肌肉、肌腱和韧带组成的系统附着在飞羽的毛囊上，并在飞行过程中维持翅膀的功能完整性。新化石记录了已知与鸟类飞羽相关的结缔组织的最古老出现情况。此外，反鸟亚纲鸟类翅膀中基本现代的结缔组织排列的存在支持了将这些原始鸟类解释为有能力飞行者的观点。
