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Terry D. Jones,1*
John A. Ruben,1
Larry D. Martin,2
Evgeny N. Kurochkin,3
Alan Feduccia,4
Paul F. A. Maderson,5
Willem J. Hillenius,6
Nicholas R. Geist,7
Vladimir Alifanov3
Longisquama insignis was an unusual archosaur from the
Late Triassic of central Asia. Along its dorsal axis
Longisquama borea series of paired integumentary appendages
that resembled avianfeathers in many details, especially in the
anatomy of the basalregion. The latter is sufficiently similar to the
calamus of modernfeathers that each probably represents the
culmination of virtuallyidentical morphogenetic processes. The exact
relationship of Longisquamato birds is uncertain.
Nevertheless, we interpret Longisquama'selongate
integumentary appendages as nonavian feathers and suggestthat they are
probably homologous with avian feathers. If so,they antedate the
feathers of Archaeopteryx, the first known birdfrom the
Late Jurassic.
1 Department of Zoology, Oregon State University,
Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
2 Museum of Natural History and
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas,
Lawrence, KS 66045, USA.
3 Palaeontological Institute,
Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow GSP-7, 117868, Russia.
4 Department of Biology, University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
5 Department of Biology,
Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY
11210, USA.
6 Department of Biology, College of Charleston,
Charleston, SC 29424, USA.
7 Department of Biology, Sonoma
State University, Rohnert Park, CA 94928, USA.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. Present address:
Department of Biology, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches,TX 75962, USA. E-mail: tdjones{at}sfasu.edu
