Meet Imparavis, a new ‘toothless’ enantiornithine
Imparavis attenboroughi
(Wang et al 2024, STM11-176, Early Cretaceous, Figs 1–4) was considered the first toothless enantiornithine. Here it nests with Protopteryx (Fig 5), which has teeth and is among the basal enantiornithines. Protopteryx was not tested by Wang et al, but was mentioned once in the text. The slender toes of Imparavis had relatively large curved claws.
From Wang et al 2024, Imparavis in situ. Colors added here.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis-insitu588.gif?w=198″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis-insitu588.gif?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-84781″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis-insitu588.gif?w=584&h=887″ alt=”From Wang et al 2024, Imparavis in situ. Colors added here. ” width=”584″ height=”887″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis-insitu588.gif?w=584&h=887 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis-insitu588.gif?w=99&h=150 99w, https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis-insitu588.gif?w=198&h=300 198w, https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis-insitu588.gif 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
From Wang et al 2024, Imparavis in situ. Colors added here. The published graphic was distorted to match the photo. So the graphic was traced from another photo taken from an unnecessarily different angle and distance. Image shown at about actual size on a 72-dpi monitor. This is a parakeet- to robin-sized bird.
All the parts of Imparavis are present,
but they are crushed and somewhat disarticulated (Figs 1–4).
Figure 2. Imparavis skull. Colors and reconstruction added here.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis-attenboroughi-skull588.jpg?w=131″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis-attenboroughi-skull588.jpg?w=447″ class=”size-full wp-image-84782″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis-attenboroughi-skull588.jpg?w=584&h=1339″ alt=”Figure 2. Imparavis skull. Colors and reconstruction added here. ” width=”584″ height=”1339″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis-attenboroughi-skull588.jpg?w=584&h=1339 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis-attenboroughi-skull588.jpg?w=65&h=150 65w, https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis-attenboroughi-skull588.jpg?w=131&h=300 131w, https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis-attenboroughi-skull588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 2. Imparavis skull. Colors and reconstruction added here. Bottom image is from Wang et al.
Adding DGS colors to the published photo of Imparavis
(Figs 1–4) brings out more useful detail enabling a reconstruction the authors failed to provide. Tiny teeth, on the verge of disappearing, can be identified here (Fig 3). The authors employed several methods ( e.g. UV, X-ray) to locate teeth without success, hence the paper’s superlative headline.
Figure 3. Imparavis rostrum and mandible in situ. Decide for yourself if teeth were present or not.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis-teeth588.gif?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis-teeth588.gif?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-84790″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis-teeth588.gif?w=584&h=456″ alt=”Figure 3. Imparavis rostrum and mandible in situ. Decide for yourself if teeth were present or not.” width=”584″ height=”456″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis-teeth588.gif?w=584&h=456 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis-teeth588.gif?w=150&h=117 150w, https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis-teeth588.gif?w=300&h=234 300w, https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis-teeth588.gif 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 3. Imparavis rostrum and mandible in situ. Decide for yourself if teeth were present or not. The tan element with grit-sized teeth is the underlying and slightly shifted premaxilla (yellow).
The feet of Imparavis are also noteworthy.
The toes are slender, seemingly much too slender to anchor such large curved unguals (= claws). Yet, there they are (Fig 4)!
I’ve said it before, feet are like fingerprints. The patterns of pedal phalangeal lengths can be scored and compared (Fig 4).
Figue 4. Imparavis foot. Colors, reconstruction and Protopteryx foot added here. Note the slender toe bones and oversized claws.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis_foot588.jpg?w=219″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis_foot588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-84785″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis_foot588.jpg?w=584&h=800″ alt=”Figue 4. Imparavis foot. Colors, reconstruction and Protopteryx foot added here. ” width=”584″ height=”800″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis_foot588.jpg?w=584&h=800 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis_foot588.jpg?w=110&h=150 110w, https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis_foot588.jpg?w=219&h=300 219w, https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/imparavis_foot588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 4. Imparavis foot. Colors, reconstruction and Protopteryx foot added here. Note the slender toe bones and oversized claws. The PILs are similar in pattern.
Figure 5. Protopteryx reconstructed.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/protopteryx588.jpg?w=251″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/protopteryx588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-84797″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/protopteryx588.jpg?w=584&h=697″ alt=”Figure 5. Protopteryx reconstructed. ” width=”584″ height=”697″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/protopteryx588.jpg?w=584&h=697 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/protopteryx588.jpg?w=126&h=150 126w, https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/protopteryx588.jpg?w=251&h=300 251w, https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2024/03/protopteryx588.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 5. Protopteryx reconstructed.
“First” is a superlative found in this paper’s headline.
After review this taxon might not be the “first’ edentulous enantiornithine – but it was really, really close. The tiny and weakly mineralized grit-sized teeth did not show up under the authors’ UV or X-ray attempts. Here (Fig 3) teeth just barely show up using the DGS method. Such tiny teeth probably represent the last stage prior to toothlessness.
How you score such micro-teeth is up to you.
Some fish likewise have teeth no larger than sandpaper grit.
Figure1. Click to enlarge. Comparing data gathering results using first-hand observation with the DGS method on the skull of Jeholopterus.. The digital outlines were then transferred into the reconstruction.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/jeholopterus-recon.jpg?w=300″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/jeholopterus-recon.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-436″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/jeholopterus-recon.jpg?w=584&h=584″ alt=”" width=”584″ height=”584″ srcset=”https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/jeholopterus-recon.jpg?w=584&h=584 584w, https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/jeholopterus-recon.jpg?w=150&h=150 150w, https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/jeholopterus-recon.jpg?w=300&h=300 300w, https://pterosaurheresies.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/jeholopterus-recon.jpg 588w” sizes=”(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px” />
Figure 6. Comparing data gathering results using first-hand observation with the DGS method on the skull of Jeholopterus by Wang et al 2002 (upper left).. The DGS color image was traced from a published photo, then used to create a reconstruction.
The authors did not provide
a complete reconstruction or a skull reconstruction (only the jaw tips), so the one provided here (Fig 2) is a first draft using DGS. This method is a 21-year-old technique inspired by an earlier paper also by lead author Xiaolin Wang. The Jeholopterus paper by Wang et al 2002 featured a crude line drawing (Fig 6 upper left) that was improved by the first DGS color tracing (Fig 6 color image) using Photoshop.
This technique was ridiculed and shunned by some academic workers. Meanwhile some other workers started coloring bones and µCT scans when the Internet made hi-rez digital color reproduction essentially free, supplanting expensive traditional 4-color print reproduction limited by half-tone dots.
Wang et al 2024 did not provide any DGS tracings,
but continued using the old black line tracing technique (Fig 2) that overlooks details.
References
Wang X, Zhou Z, Zhang F and Xu X 2002. A nearly completely articulated rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur with exceptionally well-preserved wing membranes and “hairs” from Inner Mongolia, northeast China. Chinese Science Bulletin 47(3): 226-230.
Wang et al (6 co-authors 2024. First edentulous enantiornithine (Aves: Ornithothoraces) from the Lower Cretaceous Jehol Avifauna Cretaceous Research https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2024.105867
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2024/03/08/meet-imparavis-a-new-toothless-enantiornithine/
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