Mirarce (meaning "wonderful winged messenger") is a genus of enantornithebird from the Late Cretaceous of Utah. It contains a single species, M. eatoni.[1] It was similar in size to modern turkeys.
In 1992, in Utah, USA, paleontologist Howard Hutchison discovered fossilized remains of an enantiornithine bird. For a long time they have not been described; they were sometimes figured under the unofficial name of "Kaiparowits enantiornithine". The holotype, UCMP 139500, is well preserved in three dimensions. It consists of a partial postcranial skeleton without a skull, including 3 cervical and 2 thoracic vertebrae, a pygostyle, a furcula, the xiphoid process of the sternum, a fragment of the left scapula and a coracoid, the humerus, ulna, and radius with fragments of the manus, several fused fragments of the pelvic girdle, and some elements of the hind limbs. It is the most complete enantiornithine found in North America.
In 2018, the fossil was named and described by a group of paleontologists led by Jesse Atterholt. The generic name is made up of the Latin mirus; beautiful, "for an impressive level of preservation and morphological details," with the addition of the name of Arke ( Ἄρκη \ Arkē ), the winged messenger of the Titans of Greek mythology - "for evidence pointing to an improved vehicle of this kind." The species name eatoni given in honor of Jeffrey Eaton in recognition of the decades of scientific work done on the Kaiparowits formation and the study of its fossil specimens.
DescriptionEdit
Mirarce eatoni was a large turkey-sized bird. Skeletal morphology indicates that at the time of death, the individual was adult. All the surviving elements of the bones show complete fusion.
The bones of the forelimbs deserve special attention. The humerus of the bird is short and strong. The left ulna was preserved as a mineral cast of the internal cavity with several small fragments of fossilized bone surface. Two folded spots preserved on the posterior edge of the bone body are interpreted as quill knobs. These elongated folds are located along the length of the bone. Despite the fact that bone fragments do not allow measuring the size of each tubercle, determining the distance between them or estimating the number of secondary feathers, their very presence on the fossil is a very significant fact, as this is the first time the structure has been found in enantiornithines.
^Science News, Mirarce eatoni: Newly-Discovered Cretaceous Bird Lived Among Dinosaurs, Was Strong Flier, November 13, 2018.
^Atterholt, J.; Hutchison, J. H.; O'Connor, J. K. (2018-11-13). "The most complete enantiornithine from North America and a phylogenetic analysis of the Avisauridae". PeerJ. 6. doi:10.7717/peerj.5910.
This prehistoric bird article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
mirarce, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, january, 2022, lea. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Mirarce news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Mirarce meaning wonderful winged messenger is a genus of enantornithe bird from the Late Cretaceous of Utah It contains a single species M eatoni 1 It was similar in size to modern turkeys MirarceTemporal range Campanian 76 74 1 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N Reconstruction by Scott Hartman showing known material in whiteScientific classificationDomain EukaryotaKingdom AnimaliaPhylum ChordataClade DinosauriaClade SaurischiaClade TheropodaClade AvialaeClade EnantiornithesFamily AvisauridaeGenus MirarceAtterholt et al 2018Species M eatoniBinomial name Mirarce eatoniAtterholt et al 2018 Contents 1 Discovery 2 Description 3 Phylogeny 4 Paleoecology 5 ReferencesDiscovery Edit nbsp Life reconstructionIn 1992 in Utah USA paleontologist Howard Hutchison discovered fossilized remains of an enantiornithine bird For a long time they have not been described they were sometimes figured under the unofficial name of Kaiparowits enantiornithine The holotype UCMP 139500 is well preserved in three dimensions It consists of a partial postcranial skeleton without a skull including 3 cervical and 2 thoracic vertebrae a pygostyle a furcula the xiphoid process of the sternum a fragment of the left scapula and a coracoid the humerus ulna and radius with fragments of the manus several fused fragments of the pelvic girdle and some elements of the hind limbs It is the most complete enantiornithine found in North America In 2018 the fossil was named and described by a group of paleontologists led by Jesse Atterholt The generic name is made up of the Latin mirus beautiful for an impressive level of preservation and morphological details with the addition of the name of Arke Ἄrkh Arke the winged messenger of the Titans of Greek mythology for evidence pointing to an improved vehicle of this kind The species name eatoni given in honor of Jeffrey Eaton in recognition of the decades of scientific work done on the Kaiparowits formation and the study of its fossil specimens Description EditMirarce eatoni was a large turkey sized bird Skeletal morphology indicates that at the time of death the individual was adult All the surviving elements of the bones show complete fusion The bones of the forelimbs deserve special attention The humerus of the bird is short and strong The left ulna was preserved as a mineral cast of the internal cavity with several small fragments of fossilized bone surface Two folded spots preserved on the posterior edge of the bone body are interpreted as quill knobs These elongated folds are located along the length of the bone Despite the fact that bone fragments do not allow measuring the size of each tubercle determining the distance between them or estimating the number of secondary feathers their very presence on the fossil is a very significant fact as this is the first time the structure has been found in enantiornithines Phylogeny EditMirarce was found to be a member of Avisauridae close to Avisaurus itself 2 Paleoecology Edit nbsp A reconstruction of Mirarce eatoni illustrating the large body size of this taxonMirarce fossils have been found in the Kaiparowits Formation of western North America which dates to the late Campanian age of the Cretaceous References Edit Science News Mirarce eatoni Newly Discovered Cretaceous Bird Lived Among Dinosaurs Was Strong Flier November 13 2018 Atterholt J Hutchison J H O Connor J K 2018 11 13 The most complete enantiornithine from North America and a phylogenetic analysis of the Avisauridae PeerJ 6 doi 10 7717 peerj 5910 nbsp This prehistoric bird article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mirarce amp oldid 1070526306, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
