Synthetic analysis of trophic diversity and evolution in Enantiornithes with new insights from Bohaiornithidae

Miller, Case Vincent; Bright, Jen A.; Wang, Xiaoli; Zheng, Xiaoting; Pittman, Michael

Abstract

Enantiornithines were the dominant birds of the Mesozoic, but understanding of their diet is still tenuous. We introduce new data on the enantiornithine family Bohaiornithidae, famous for their large size and powerfully built teeth and claws. In tandem with previously published data, we comment on the breadth of enantiornithine ecology and potential patterns in which it evolved. Body mass, jaw mechanical advantage, finite element analysis of the jaw, and traditional morphometrics of the claws and skull are compared between bohaiornithids and living birds. We find bohaiornithids to be more ecologically diverse than any other enantiornithine family: Bohaiornis and Parabohaiornis are similar to living plant-eating birds; Longusunguis resembles raptorial carnivores; Zhouornis is similar to both fruit-eating birds and generalist feeders; and Shenqiornis and Sulcavis plausibly ate fish, plants, or a mix of both. We predict the ancestral enantiornithine bird to have been a generalist which ate a wide variety of foods. However, more quantitative data from across the enantiornithine tree is needed to refine this prediction. By the Early Cretaceous, enantiornithine birds had diversified into a variety of ecological niches like crown birds after the K-Pg extinction, adding to the evidence that traits unique to crown birds cannot completely explain their ecological success.

Citation

Miller, C. V., Bright, J. A., Wang, X., Zheng, X., & Pittman, M. (2024). Synthetic analysis of trophic diversity and evolution in Enantiornithes with new insights from Bohaiornithidae. eLife, 12, Article RP89871. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.89871

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 7, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Apr 30, 2024
• Publication Date: Apr 30, 2024
• Deposit Date: Aug 9, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 13, 2024
• Journal: eLife
• Electronic ISSN: 2050-084X
• Publisher: eLife Sciences Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Article Number: RP89871
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.89871
• Keywords: Evolutionary Biology; Avialae; Birds; Diet; Finite element analysis; Mechanical advantage; Morphometrics
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4664117