Comments for The Z-Letter Archive

Comment on Mystery beast! by Peter Tickle

Peter Tickle — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 10:22:28 +0000

It’s certainly part of a bird…and you are right to think about sound production…

Comment on Mystery beast! by Eyrieowl

Eyrieowl — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 20:10:59 +0000

Swag: some sort of serrated beak/bill? The top part of the beak, maybe the odd structure down the middle is a resonant cavity?

Comment on Name that (fossilised) beast! by Peter Tickle

Peter Tickle — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:57:59 +0000

Excellent guesses – it’s an example of the Mesozoic bird, Confuciusornis sanctus. This is a particularly interesting species for evolutionary biologists due to it’s vast age (~125 m.y.a) and derived avian morphology that contrasts with the skeletons of the even older Archaeopteryx specimens. For example, you can see in the photo that the humerus is broadened and the sternum has a keel, adaptations presumably important in the evolution of flight.

C. sanctus does retain more primitive characters such as gastralia (ribs in the belly wall) that are more usually found in crocs, Sphenodon (and pterosaurs and some dinosaurs), and act in respiration. Modern birds lack this feature, having a highly derived sternal-rib breathing pump (bit of self-promotion: for more details see http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1420-9101.2012.02465.x/abstract)

This particular fossil is kept in the Senckenberg collection, Frankfurt, Germany.

Comment on Name that (fossilised) beast! by Xaali

Xaali — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 15:40:08 +0000

Damn! Well, guessed the same on facebook

Comment on Name that (fossilised) beast! by Mark Edon

Mark Edon — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 19:54:35 +0000

Confuciusornis?

Comment on Name that beast by Ollie Wearing

Ollie Wearing — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 14:46:25 +0000

Is it some sort of mollusc radula?

Comment on Name that beast by kayleigh

kayleigh — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 15:56:27 +0000

gosh, that’s a hard one!

Comment on Name that beast! by Peter Tickle

Peter Tickle — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 13:58:08 +0000

Excellent work, Kay – this is a female red jungle fowl which of course is the wild ancestor of the modern domesticated chicken. The history of domestication in the chicken is not well understood and so there is much research effort being put into tracing the genetic evidence. By utilising genetic diversity in jungle fowl we may be able to breed ‘better’ chickens, potentially resistant to illness and having favourable meat/egg producing qualities.

Be sure to take a look at the recent article in Science: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/338/6110/1020.full

Comment on Name that beast! by William Russell

William Russell — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 09:07:06 +0000

Aw, shucks

Comment on Name that beast! by Kay Symcox

Kay Symcox — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 05:10:06 +0000

Is it Gallus gallus, the Red junglefowl (female); a type of tropical pheasant thought to be an ancestor – possibly hybridised with the Grey junglefowl – of the domestic chicken?