The rise of feathered dinosaurs: Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus, the oldest dinosaur with ‘feather-like’ structures
Diverse epidermal appendages including grouped filaments closely resembling primitive feathers in non-avian theropods, are associated with skeletal elements in the primitive ornithischian dinosaur Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus from the Kulinda locality in south-eastern Siberia. This discovery suggests...
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| Format: | Article |
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PeerJ Inc.
2019-02-01
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/6239.pdf |
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| author | Aude Cincotta Ekaterina B. Pestchevitskaya Sofia M. Sinitsa Valentina S. Markevich Vinciane Debaille Svetlana A. Reshetova Irina M. Mashchuk Andrei O. Frolov Axel Gerdes Johan Yans Pascal Godefroit |
| author_facet | Aude Cincotta Ekaterina B. Pestchevitskaya Sofia M. Sinitsa Valentina S. Markevich Vinciane Debaille Svetlana A. Reshetova Irina M. Mashchuk Andrei O. Frolov Axel Gerdes Johan Yans Pascal Godefroit |
| author_sort | Aude Cincotta |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Diverse epidermal appendages including grouped filaments closely resembling primitive feathers in non-avian theropods, are associated with skeletal elements in the primitive ornithischian dinosaur Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus from the Kulinda locality in south-eastern Siberia. This discovery suggests that “feather-like” structures did not evolve exclusively in theropod dinosaurs, but were instead potentially widespread in the whole dinosaur clade. The dating of the Kulinda locality is therefore particularly important for reconstructing the evolution of “feather-like” structures in dinosaurs within a chronostratigraphic framework. Here we present the first dating of the Kulinda locality, combining U-Pb analyses (LA-ICP-MS) on detrital zircons and monazites from sedimentary rocks of volcaniclastic origin and palynological observations. Concordia ages constrain the maximum age of the volcaniclastic deposits at 172.8 ± 1.6 Ma, corresponding to the Aalenian (Middle Jurassic). The palynological assemblage includes taxa that are correlated to Bathonian palynozones from western Siberia, and therefore constrains the minimum age of the deposits. The new U-Pb ages, together with the palynological data, provide evidence of a Bathonian age—between 168.3 ± 1.3 Ma and 166.1 ± 1.2 Ma—for Kulindadromeus. This is older than the previous Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous ages tentatively based on local stratigraphic correlations. A Bathonian age is highly consistent with the phylogenetic position of Kulindadromeus at the base of the neornithischian clade and suggests that cerapodan dinosaurs originated in Asia during the Middle Jurassic, from a common ancestor that closely looked like Kulindadromeus. Our results consequently show that Kulindadromeus is the oldest known dinosaur with “feather-like” structures discovered so far. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T08:09:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3cfffeced55d4329ac4c55e61ca00904 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T08:09:19Z |
| publishDate | 2019-02-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-3cfffeced55d4329ac4c55e61ca009042023-12-02T23:32:08ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592019-02-017e623910.7717/peerj.6239The rise of feathered dinosaurs: Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus, the oldest dinosaur with ‘feather-like’ structuresAude Cincotta0Ekaterina B. Pestchevitskaya1Sofia M. Sinitsa2Valentina S. Markevich3Vinciane Debaille4Svetlana A. Reshetova5Irina M. Mashchuk6Andrei O. Frolov7Axel Gerdes8Johan Yans9Pascal Godefroit10Directorate ‘Earth and History of Life’, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, BelgiumInstitute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics. AA Trofimuk, Novosibirsk, RussiaInstitute of Natural Resources, Ecology, and Cryology, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Chita, RussiaFederal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity, Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, RussiaLaboratoire G-Time, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, BelgiumInstitute of Natural Resources, Ecology, and Cryology, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Chita, RussiaInstitute of Earth’s Crust, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Irkutsk, RussiaInstitute of Earth’s Crust, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Irkutsk, RussiaInstitut für Geowissenschaften, Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt, GermanyDepartment of Geology, Institute of Life, Earth and Environment, University of Namur, Namur, BelgiumDirectorate ‘Earth and History of Life’, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, BelgiumDiverse epidermal appendages including grouped filaments closely resembling primitive feathers in non-avian theropods, are associated with skeletal elements in the primitive ornithischian dinosaur Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus from the Kulinda locality in south-eastern Siberia. This discovery suggests that “feather-like” structures did not evolve exclusively in theropod dinosaurs, but were instead potentially widespread in the whole dinosaur clade. The dating of the Kulinda locality is therefore particularly important for reconstructing the evolution of “feather-like” structures in dinosaurs within a chronostratigraphic framework. Here we present the first dating of the Kulinda locality, combining U-Pb analyses (LA-ICP-MS) on detrital zircons and monazites from sedimentary rocks of volcaniclastic origin and palynological observations. Concordia ages constrain the maximum age of the volcaniclastic deposits at 172.8 ± 1.6 Ma, corresponding to the Aalenian (Middle Jurassic). The palynological assemblage includes taxa that are correlated to Bathonian palynozones from western Siberia, and therefore constrains the minimum age of the deposits. The new U-Pb ages, together with the palynological data, provide evidence of a Bathonian age—between 168.3 ± 1.3 Ma and 166.1 ± 1.2 Ma—for Kulindadromeus. This is older than the previous Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous ages tentatively based on local stratigraphic correlations. A Bathonian age is highly consistent with the phylogenetic position of Kulindadromeus at the base of the neornithischian clade and suggests that cerapodan dinosaurs originated in Asia during the Middle Jurassic, from a common ancestor that closely looked like Kulindadromeus. Our results consequently show that Kulindadromeus is the oldest known dinosaur with “feather-like” structures discovered so far.https://peerj.com/articles/6239.pdfFeathered dinosaursPalynologyU-Pb datingJurassic of Siberia |
| spellingShingle | Aude Cincotta Ekaterina B. Pestchevitskaya Sofia M. Sinitsa Valentina S. Markevich Vinciane Debaille Svetlana A. Reshetova Irina M. Mashchuk Andrei O. Frolov Axel Gerdes Johan Yans Pascal Godefroit The rise of feathered dinosaurs: Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus, the oldest dinosaur with ‘feather-like’ structures PeerJ Feathered dinosaurs Palynology U-Pb dating Jurassic of Siberia |
| title | The rise of feathered dinosaurs: Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus, the oldest dinosaur with ‘feather-like’ structures |
| title_full | The rise of feathered dinosaurs: Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus, the oldest dinosaur with ‘feather-like’ structures |
| title_fullStr | The rise of feathered dinosaurs: Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus, the oldest dinosaur with ‘feather-like’ structures |
| title_full_unstemmed | The rise of feathered dinosaurs: Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus, the oldest dinosaur with ‘feather-like’ structures |
| title_short | The rise of feathered dinosaurs: Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus, the oldest dinosaur with ‘feather-like’ structures |
| title_sort | rise of feathered dinosaurs kulindadromeus zabaikalicus the oldest dinosaur with feather like structures |
| topic | Feathered dinosaurs Palynology U-Pb dating Jurassic of Siberia |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/6239.pdf |
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