Abstract
Here we describe three fossil feathers from the Early Cretaceous Santana Formation of the Araripe Basin, Brazil. Feathers are the most complex multiform vertebrate integuments; they perform different functions, occurring in both avian and non-avian dinosaurs. Despite their rarity, fossil feathers have been found across the world. Most of the Brazilian feather fossil record comes from the Santana Formation. This formation is composed of two members: Crato (lake) and Romualdo (lagoon); both of which are predominantly reduced deposits, precluding bottom dwelling organisms, resulting in exceptional preservation of the fossils. Despite arid and hot conditions during the Cretaceous, life teemed in the adjacency of this paleolake. Feathered non-avian dinosaurs have not yet been described from the Crato Member, even though there are suggestions of their presence in nearby basins. Our description of the three feathers from the Crato laminated limestone reveals that, despite the small sample size, they can be referred to coelurosaurian theropods. Moreover, based on comparisons with extant feather morphotypes they can be identified as one contour feather and two downy feathers. Despite their rareness and low taxonomic potential, fossilized feathers can offer insights about the paleobiology of its owners and the paleoecology of the Araripe Basin.
Highlights
Feathers are the most complex integuments of vertebrates, due to their variety of forms and roles
Three specimens were studied and described, following the terminology of Lucas & Stettenheim (1972), Sick (1984) and Proctor & Lynch (1993). These fossils were apprehended by the Brazilian Federal Police and the IPHAN (Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage) and are deposited in the Paleontological Collection of the Laboratory of Systematic Paleontology from the Institute of Geosciences, of the University of São Paulo, in the city of São Paulo
The approach we propose is a simple and parsimonious approach to describe fossilized feathers, assigning their morphotypes to the basal animals that possessed them according to the fossil record of non-avian and avian dinosaurs
Summary
Feathers are the most complex integuments of vertebrates, due to their variety of forms and roles. This structure is responsible for the thermoregulation, display, protection against radiation, toxicity, buoyancy and even to produce sound (Lucas & Stettenheim, 1972; Dumbacher et al, 2004; Bostiwick & Prum, 2005; Clark, Elias & Prum, 2011; Dimond, Cabin & Brooks, 2011). Evidence indicates a plausible multiple origin of these structures within Dinosauria (Clarke, 2013), it is possible that the first feathers were present even in the base of the superorder (Xu, 2006; Norell, 2011; Godefroit et al, 2014). It was only in maniraptoriformes that ‘‘modern-type feathers’’ (plumulaceous and pennaceous feathers) have arisen (Xu & Guo, 2009; Clarke, 2013; Godefroit et al, 2013; Han et al, 2014; Koschowitz, Fischer & Sander, 2014)
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