Marcelo P. Isasi

An enigmatic plant-eating theropod from the Late Jurassic period of Chile

Theropod dinosaurs were the dominant predators in most Mesozoic era terrestrial ecosystems. Early theropod evolution is currently interpreted as the diversification of various carnivorous and cursorial taxa, whereas the acquisition of herbivorism, together with the secondary loss of cursorial adaptations, occurred much later among advanced coelurosaurian theropods. A new, bizarre herbivorous basal tetanuran from the Upper Jurassic of Chile challenges this conception. The new dinosaur was discovered at Aysén, a fossil locality in the Upper Jurassic Toqui Formation of southern Chile (General Carrera Lake). The site yielded abundant and exquisitely preserved three-dimensional skeletons of small archosaurs. Several articulated individuals of Chilesaurus at different ontogenetic stages have been collected, as well as less abundant basal crocodyliforms, and fragmentary remains of sauropod dinosaurs (diplodocids and titanosaurians).

A Mesozoic bird from Gondwana preserving feathers

The fossil record of birds in the Mesozoic of Gondwana is mostly based on isolated and often poorly preserved specimens, none of which has preserved details on feather anatomy. We provide the description of a fossil bird represented by a skeleton with feathers from the Early Cretaceous of Gondwana (NE Brazil). The specimen sheds light on the homology and 3D structure of the rachis-dominated feathers, previously known from two-dimensional slabs. The rectrices exhibit a row of rounded spots, probably corresponding to some original colour pattern. The specimen supports the identification of the feather scapus as the rachis, which is notably robust and elliptical in cross-section. In spite of its juvenile nature, the tail plumage resembles the feathering of adult individuals of modern birds. Documentation of rachis-dominated tail in South American enantiornithines broadens the paleobiogeographic distribution of basal birds with this tail feather morphotype, up to now only reported from China.

Fossil evidence of the avian vocal organ from the Mesozoic

From complex songs to simple honks, birds produce sounds using a unique vocal organ called the syrinx. Located close to the heart at the tracheobronchial junction, vocal folds or membranes attached to modified mineralized rings vibrate to produce sound. Syringeal components were not thought to commonly enter the fossil record, and the few reported fossilized parts of the syrinx are geologically young (from the Pleistocene and Holocene (approximately 2.5 million years ago to the present)). The only known older syrinx is an Eocene specimen that was not described or illustrated. Data on the relationship between soft tissue structures and syringeal three-dimensional geometry are also exceptionally limited. Here we describe the first remains, to our knowledge, of a fossil syrinx from the Mesozoic Era, which are preserved in three dimensions in a specimen from the Late Cretaceous (approximately 66 to 69 million years ago) of Antarctica. With both cranial and postcranial remains, the new Vegavis iaai specimen is the most complete to be recovered from a part of the radiation of living birds (Aves). Enhanced-contrast X-ray computed tomography (CT) of syrinx structure in twelve extant non-passerine birds, as well as CT imaging of the Vegavis and Eocene syrinxes, informs both the reconstruction of ancestral states in birds and properties of the vocal organ in the extinct species. Fused rings in Vegavis form a well-mineralized pessulus, a derived neognath bird feature, proposed to anchor enlarged vocal folds or labia. Left-right bronchial asymmetry, as seen in Vegavis, is only known in extant birds with two sets of vocal fold sound sources. The new data show the fossilization potential of the avian vocal organ and beg the question why these remains have not been found in other dinosaurs. The lack of other Mesozoic tracheobronchial remains, and the poorly mineralized condition in archosaurian taxa without a syrinx, may indicate that a complex syrinx was a late arising feature in the evolution of birds, well after the origin of flight and respiratory innovations.

A new genus and species of enantiornithine bird from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil

The fossil record of birds in Gondwana is almost restricted to the Late Cretaceous. Herein we describe a new fossil from the Araripe Basin, Cratoavis cearensis nov. gen et sp., composed of an articulated skeleton with feathers attached to the wings and surrounding the body. The present discovery considerably extends the temporal record of the Enantiornithes birds at South America to the Early Cretaceous. For the first time, an almost complete and articulated skeleton of an Early Cretaceous bird from South America is documented.

A new large pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia

Here, we expand the meager record of Late Cretaceous South American pterosaurs with the description of a partial rostrum belonging to a large azhdarchid pterodactyloid. The specimen was collected c ...

Late Jurassic sauropods in chilean Patagonia

Abstract. A description is provided of the first sauropod remains (i.e., isolated vertebrae and appendicular bones) from the Late Jurassic of Aysén, in Chilean Patagonia (Toqui Formation, late Tithonian). Although the bones found are fragmentary, they still allow the recognition of an unsuspected sauropod diversity for this period in South America. The materials suggest the presence of at least three different sauropod lineages: an indeterminate group of sauropods, possible Titanosauriformes, and Diplodocoidea. A phylogenetic analysis of this last clade supports the placement of the remains within Diplodocinae and also provides the first unequivocal record of this clade in Late Jurassic rocks of South America. These records provide important information about the poorly known evolutionary history of sauropods in South America before the Cretaceous.

Forelimb Posture in Chilesaurus diegosuarezi (Dinosauria, Theropoda) and Its Behavioral and Phylogenetic Implications

Abstract. Many dinosaur skeletons show evidence of behavior, including feeding, predation, nesting, and parental care. The resting posture of the forelimbs has been studied in some theropod species, in relation to the acquisition of flight in advanced maniraptoran theropods. Chilesaurus diegosuarezi is a bizarre tetanuran recently described from the Toqui Formation (latest Tithonian) of southern Chile that is represented by multiple well-preserved and articulated specimens. The aim of the present work is to analyze the forelimb posture of four articulated specimens of Chilesaurus diegosuarezi, focusing on its anatomical description, and phylogenetic and behavioral implications. All the preserved specimens show strongly ventrally flexed arms with the hands oriented backwards, an arrangement that closely resembles those in dinosaur specimens previously described as preserving resting posture, such as Mei long, Sinornithoides youngi and Albinykus baatar. As a result, it seems that individuals of Chilesaurus diegosuarezi have been in passive activity (e.g. feeding, resting) when they were buried quickly, allowing their fossilization in life position and preserving the forelimb resting posture. The arrangement of the forelimb bones in Chilesaurus could show the first evidences of the structures linked to the muscles that flex the forearms, features related with the acquisition of flying control in advanced maniraptorans.