Unusual Early Cretaceous birds from Spain

Abstract

The Neocomian Spanish outcrops of Montsec (province of Lerida) and the new one of Las Hoyas (province of Cuenca) have yielded several avian remains in the last few years. Several isolated feathers have been reported from Montsec, and a specimen of some feathered wing bones has recently been found. Las Hoyas has yielded an isolated feather and a nearly articulated small fossil bird that lacks the skull. This new specimen, reported here, presents a combination of derived (strut-like coracoids, pygostyle) and primitive (pelvic girdle, sacrum, hind limb) character states. If one considers Archaeopteryx, Ornithurae and the new Spanish fossil bird, it seems clear that the latter taxon is the sister group of Ornithurae (extant birds and all other fossil birds that are closer to recent forms than is Archaeopteryx).