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Informationen zum Autor Gerald Mayr is a German paleontologist who is Curator of Ornithology at the Senckenberg Research Institute in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse. He has published extensively on fossil birds, especially the Paleogene avifauna of Europe. He is an expert on the Eocene fauna of the Messel pit. Klappentext Knowledge of the evolutionary history of birds has much improved in recent decades. Fossils from critical time periods are being described at unprecedented rates and modern phylogenetic analyses have provided a framework for the interrelationships of the extant groups. This book gives an overview of the avian fossil record and its paleobiological significance, and it is the only up-to-date textbook that covers both Mesozoic and more modern-type Cenozoic birds in some detail. The reader is introduced to key features of basal avians and the morphological transformations that have occurred in the evolution towards modern birds. An account of the Cenozoic fossil record sheds light on the biogeographic history of the extant avian groups and discusses fossils in the context of current phylogenetic hypotheses. This review of the evolutionary history of birds not only addresses students and established researchers, but it may also be a useful source of information for anyone else with an interest in the evolution of birds and a moderate background in biology and geology. Zusammenfassung Knowledge of the evolutionary history of birds has much improved in recent decades. Fossils from critical time periods are being described at unprecedented rates and modern phylogenetic analyses have provided a framework for the interrelationships of the extant groups. Inhaltsverzeichnis Foreword ix Preface xi Acknowledgments xiii Chapter 1 An Introduction to Birds, the Geological Settings of Their Evolution, and the Avian Skeleton 1 Birds Are Evolutionarily Nested within Theropod Dinosaurs 2 The Geological Settings of Avian Evolution in a Nutshell 4 Characteristics of the Avian Skeleton 6 Chapter 2 The Origin of Birds 18 Archaeopteryx: The German "Urvogel" and Its Bearing on Avian Evolution 19 The Closest Maniraptoran Relatives of Birds 22 Feather Evolution 32 The Origin of Avian Flight 37 Chapter 3 The Mesozoic Flight Way towards Modern Birds 43 Jeholornithids: Early Cretaceous Long-Tailed Birds 44 Confuciusornis, Sapeornis, and Kin: Basal Birds with a Pygostyle 45 Ornithothoraces and the Origin of Sustained Flapping Flight Capabilities 50 The Ornithuromorpha: Refinement of Modern Characteristics 55 Ornithurae and the Origin of Modern Birds 59 Chapter 4 Mesozoic Birds: Interrelationships and Character Evolution 64 The Interrelationships of Mesozoic Birds: Controversial Phylogenetic Placements and Well-Supported Clades 65 Character Evolution in Mesozoic Birds 68 Ontogenetic Development of Mesozoic Birds 81 Chapter 5 The Interrelationships and Origin of Crown Group Birds (Neornithes) 84 Phylogenetic Interrelationships of Neornithine Birds 85 The Mesozoic Fossil Record of Neornithine-Like and Neornithine Birds 88 Chapter 6 Palaeognathous Birds (Ostriches, Tinamous, and Allies) 94 The Interrelationships of Extant Palaeognathae 95 Early Cenozoic Palaeognathous Birds of the Northern Hemisphere 95 Long-Winged Ostriches, Rheas, and Tinamous 97 Short-Winged Palaeognathous Birds 101 Biogeography: A Textbook Example of Gondwanan Vicariance Has Been Dismantled 105 Chapter 7 Galloanseres: "Fowl" and Kin 107 Galliformes: From Herbivorous Forest Dwellers to Seed Eaters of Open Landscapes 108 The Waterfowl 113 Gastornithids: Giant Herbivorous Birds in the Early Paleogene of the Northern Hemisphere 118 Dromornithids (...
