| Title |
Mummified precocial bird wings in mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Nature Communications, June 2016
|
| DOI | 10.1038/ncomms12089 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Lida Xing, Ryan C. McKellar, Min Wang, Ming Bai, Jingmai K. O’Connor, Michael J. Benton, Jianping Zhang, Yan Wang, Kuowei Tseng, Martin G. Lockley, Gang Li, Weiwei Zhang, Xing Xu |
| Abstract |
Our knowledge of Cretaceous plumage is limited by the fossil record itself: compression fossils surrounding skeletons lack the finest morphological details and seldom preserve visible traces of colour, while discoveries in amber have been disassociated from their source animals. Here we report the osteology, plumage and pterylosis of two exceptionally preserved theropod wings from Burmese amber, with vestiges of soft tissues. The extremely small size and osteological development of the wings, combined with their digit proportions, strongly suggests that the remains represent precocial hatchlings of enantiornithine birds. These specimens demonstrate that the plumage types associated with modern birds were present within single individuals of Enantiornithes by the Cenomanian (99 million years ago), providing insights into plumage arrangement and microstructure alongside immature skeletal remains. This finding brings new detail to our understanding of infrequently preserved juveniles, including the first concrete examples of follicles, feather tracts and apteria in Cretaceous avialans. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 595 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | 82 | 14% |
| United States | 38 | 6% |
| United Kingdom | 23 | 4% |
| France | 16 | 3% |
| Spain | 13 | 2% |
| Canada | 9 | 2% |
| Brazil | 4 | <1% |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3 | <1% |
| Germany | 3 | <1% |
| Other | 41 | 7% |
| Unknown | 363 | 61% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 535 | 90% |
| Scientists | 46 | 8% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 9 | 2% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 5 | <1% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 141 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Canada | 2 | 1% |
| Spain | 2 | 1% |
| Finland | 1 | <1% |
| United Kingdom | 1 | <1% |
| Australia | 1 | <1% |
| Argentina | 1 | <1% |
| Germany | 1 | <1% |
| Japan | 1 | <1% |
| United States | 1 | <1% |
| Other | 0 | 0% |
| Unknown | 130 | 92% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 31 | 22% |
| Researcher | 23 | 16% |
| Student > Bachelor | 17 | 12% |
| Student > Master | 16 | 11% |
| Other | 9 | 6% |
| Other | 23 | 16% |
| Unknown | 22 | 16% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 53 | 38% |
| Earth and Planetary Sciences | 39 | 28% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 7 | 5% |
| Environmental Science | 6 | 4% |
| Computer Science | 2 | 1% |
| Other | 3 | 2% |
| Unknown | 31 | 22% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1200. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 10 May 2021.
All research outputs
#12,048
of 25,774,185 outputs
Outputs from Nature Communications
#235
of 58,400 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#153
of 368,314 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Nature Communications
#4
of 799 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,774,185 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 58,400 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 55.5. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 368,314 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 799 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.