Seabirds (Aves) from the Pleistocene Kazusa and Shimosa groups, central Japan

Watanabe, Junya; Koizumi, Akihiro; Nakagawa, Ryohei; Takahashi, Keiichi; Tanaka, Takeshi; Matsuoka, Hiroaki

doi:10.1080/02724634.2019.1697277

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 93 publications

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“…Mancalline auks are an extinct lineage of flightless auks representing the sister group to crown-group Alcidae ( Smith 2011 ). Two genera are currently recognized: Miomancalla is known from the Miocene–Pliocene of California (~∼10–4.9 Ma), and Mancalla is known from the Pliocene (perhaps extending into the Miocene)–Pleistocene of the Pacific coasts of North America and Japan (approximately 5.0–0.12 Ma; e.g., Lucas 1901 ; Miller and Howard 1949 ; Chandler 1990 ; Smith 2011 ; Smith and Clarke 2015 ; Watanabe et al. 2020 a, 2020 b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wing Musculature Reconstruction in Extinct Flightless Auks (PinguinusandMancalla) Reveals Incomplete Convergence with Penguins (Spheniscidae) Due to Differing Ancestral States

Watanabe

Field

Matsuoka

2020

Integrative Organismal Biology

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Despite longstanding interest in convergent evolution, factors that result in deviations from fully convergent phenotypes remain poorly understood. In birds, the evolution of flightless wing-propelled diving has emerged as a classic example of convergence, having arisen in disparate lineages including penguins (Sphenisciformes) and auks (Pan-Alcidae, Charadriiformes). Nevertheless, little is known about the functional anatomy of the wings of flightless auks because all such taxa are extinct, and their morphology is almost exclusively represented by skeletal remains. Here, in order to re-evaluate the extent of evolutionary convergence among flightless wing-propelled divers, wing muscles and ligaments were reconstructed in two extinct flightless auks, representing independent transitions to flightlessness: Pinguinus impennis (a crown-group alcid), and Mancalla (a stem-group alcid). Extensive anatomical data were gathered from dissections of 12 species of extant charadriiforms and 4 aequornithine waterbirds including a penguin. The results suggest that the wings of both flightless auk taxa were characterized by an increased mechanical advantage of wing elevator/retractor muscles, and decreased mobility of distal wing joints, both of which are likely advantageous for wing-propelled diving and parallel similar functional specializations in penguins. However, the conformations of individual muscles and ligaments underlying these specializations differ markedly between penguins and flightless auks, instead resembling those in each respective group’s close relatives. Thus, the wings of these flightless wing-propelled divers can be described as convergent as overall functional units, but are incompletely convergent at lower levels of anatomical organization—a result of retaining differing conditions from each group’s respective volant ancestors. Detailed investigations such as this one may indicate that, even in the face of similar functional demands, courses of phenotypic evolution are dictated to an important degree by ancestral starting points.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wing Musculature Reconstruction in Extinct Flightless Auks (PinguinusandMancalla) Reveals Incomplete Convergence with Penguins (Spheniscidae) Due to Differing Ancestral States

Watanabe

Field

Matsuoka

2020

Integrative Organismal Biology

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“…Mancalline auks are an extinct lineage of flightless auks representing the sister group to crown-group Alcidae (Smith 2011). Two genera are currently recognized: Miomancalla is known from the Miocene-Pliocene of California (~10-4.9 Ma), and Mancalla is known from the Pliocene (perhaps extending into the Miocene) -Pleistocene of the Pacific coasts of North America and Japan (~5.0-0.12 Ma; e.g., Lucas 1901;Miller and Howard 1949;Chandler 1990;Smith 2011; Smith and Clarke 2015;Watanabe et al 2020aWatanabe et al , 2020b. Plotopteridae is an extinct lineage of Suliformes (although there is some dispute about their exact phylogenetic position; Smith 2010;Mayr et al 2015Mayr et al , 2020a.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wing musculature reconstruction in extinct flightless auks (PinguinusandMancalla) reveals incomplete convergence with penguins (Spheniscidae) due to differing ancestral states

Watanabe

Field

Matsuoka

2020

Preprint

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Despite longstanding interest in convergent evolution, factors that result in deviations from fully convergent phenotypes remain poorly understood. In birds, the evolution of flightless wing-propelled diving has emerged as a classic example of convergence, having arisen in disparate lineages including penguins (Sphenisciformes) and auks (Pan-Alcidae, Charadriiformes). Nevertheless, little is known about the functional anatomy of the wings of flightless auks because all such taxa are extinct, and their morphology is almost exclusively represented by skeletal remains. Here, in order to re-evaluate the extent of evolutionary convergence among flightless wing-propelled divers, wing muscles and ligaments were reconstructed in two extinct flightless auks, representing independent transitions to flightlessness: Pinguinus impennis (a crown-group alcid), and Mancalla (a stem-group alcid). Extensive anatomical data were gathered from dissections of 12 species of extant charadriiforms and 4 aequornithine waterbirds including a penguin. It was found that the wings of both flightless auk taxa were characterized by an increased mechanical advantage of wing elevator/retractor muscles, and decreased mobility of distal wing joints, both of which are likely advantageous for wing-propelled diving and parallel similar functional specializations in penguins. However, the conformations of individual muscles and ligaments underlying these specializations differ markedly between penguins and flightless auks, instead resembling those in each respective group’s close relatives. Thus, the wings of these flightless wing-propelled divers can be described as convergent as overall functional units, but are incompletely convergent at lower levels of anatomical organization—a result of retaining differing conditions from each group’s respective volant ancestors. Detailed investigations such as this one may indicate that, even in the face of similar functional demands, courses of phenotypic evolution are dictated to an important degree by ancestral starting points.

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“…The Little Auk is also a colonial species, yet Little Auks nest above ground on cliffs or slops, and the horizontal transmission of pathogens in this Arctic environment has not been investigated. Thus, the high degree of MHC polymorphism that we identified in Little Auks may represent an ancestral polymorphism that is enhanced by a large effective population size, both in the past [ 51 ] and at present [ 83 ], and subsequently maintained by high gene flow among the breeding colonies [ 50 , 84 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity of major histocompatibility complex of II B gene and mate choice in a monogamous and long-lived seabird, the Little Auk (Alle alle)

Wojczulanis-Jakubas,

Hoover,

Jakubas

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

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The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) plays a key role in the adaptive immune system of vertebrates, and is known to influence mate choice in many species. In birds, the MHC has been extensively examined but mainly in galliforms and passerines while other taxa that represent specific ecological and evolutionary life-histories, like seabirds, are underexamined. Here, we characterized diversity of MHC Class II B exon 2 in a colonial pelagic seabird, the Little Auk (or Dovekie Alle alle). We further examined whether MHC variation could be maintained through balancing selection and disassortative mating. We found high polymorphism at the genotyped MHC fragment, characterizing 99 distinct alleles across 140 individuals from three populations. The alleles frequencies exhibited a similar skewed distribution in both sexes, with the four most commonly occurring alleles representing approximately 35% of allelic variation. The results of a Bayesian site-by-site selection analysis suggest evidence of balancing selection and no direct evidence for MHC-dependent disassortative mating preferences in the Little Auk. The latter result might be attributed to the high overall polymorphism of the examined fragment, which itself may be maintained by the large population size of the species.

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Seabirds (Aves) from the Pleistocene Kazusa and Shimosa groups, central Japan

Cited by 8 publications

References 93 publications

Wing Musculature Reconstruction in Extinct Flightless Auks (PinguinusandMancalla) Reveals Incomplete Convergence with Penguins (Spheniscidae) Due to Differing Ancestral States

Wing Musculature Reconstruction in Extinct Flightless Auks (PinguinusandMancalla) Reveals Incomplete Convergence with Penguins (Spheniscidae) Due to Differing Ancestral States

Wing musculature reconstruction in extinct flightless auks (PinguinusandMancalla) reveals incomplete convergence with penguins (Spheniscidae) due to differing ancestral states

Diversity of major histocompatibility complex of II B gene and mate choice in a monogamous and long-lived seabird, the Little Auk (Alle alle)

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