Abstract
Cerebavis cenomanica gen. et sp. nov. from the Middle Cenomanian of the Volgograd Region (Russia) is described based on a brain mold. The brain of Cerebavis is characterized by a mosaic combination of primitive and advanced features. The brain weight is estimated as approximately 1 g. The cerebrum is relatively very large, but lacks sulci. The brain mold has long olfactory lobes with large olfactory bulbs, a well-developed epiphysis, and a parietal organ. The auditory tubercles on the dorsal surface of the midbrain are well developed. The optical lobes are located under the auditory lobes, caudoventral to the cerebral hemispheres. The cerebellum is not preserved, but its imprints just behind the midbrain suggest that it was probably relatively small and extended dorsoventrally. The brain of Cerebavis is similar in some features to that of Archaeopteryx, but is substantially more advanced and more specialized. Cerebavis is similar to living ornithurine birds in the large cerebral hemispheres, but differs in the absence of a well-developed neostriatum, the presence of excessively developed olfactory lobes, and in the pattern of the midbrain. Thus, senses of smell, eyesight, and hearing were well developed in Cerebavis. It could have been equally active in the afternoon and at night. The unique brain design demonstrated by Cerebavis has not been repeated in subsequent evolution. It provides evidence for a wide diversity of feathered creatures in the past. Cerebavis probably belongs to the Enantiornithes.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
S. S. Abyzov, M. Welsh, F. Weatall, et al., Bacterial Paleontology (Paleontol. Inst. Ross. Akad. Nauk, Moscow, 2002) [in Russian].
P. D. Alonso, A. C. Milner, R. A. Ketcham, et al. “The Avian Nature of the Brain and Ear of Archaeopteryx,” Nature 430(7000), 666–669 (2004).
A. O. Averianov, E. N. Kurochkin, E. M. Pervushov, and A. V. Ivanov, “Two Bone Fragments of Ornithocheiroid Pterosaurs from the Cenomanian of Volgograd Region, Southern Russia,” Acta Palaeontol. Polon. 50(2), 251–256 (2005).
G. R. de Beer, Archaeopteryx lithographica: A Study Based upon the British Museum Specimen (Taylor Garnett Evans and Co., Watford, 1954).
D. A. Burnham, “New Information on Bambiraptor feinbergi (Theropoda: Dromaeosauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Montana,” in Feathered Dragons, Ed. by P. J. Currie, E. B. Koppelhus, M. A. Shugar, and J. L. Wright (Indiana Univ. Press, Bloomington, 2004), pp. 67–111.
L. M. Chiappe and L. M. Witmer (eds.), Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs (Univ. California Press, Berkeley, 2002).
P. J. Currie and X.-J. Zhao, “A New Troodontid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) Braincase from the Dinosaur Park Formation (Campanian) of Alberta,” Can. J. Earth Sci. 30(10–11), 2231–2247 (1993).
C. Dechaseaux, “Le cerveau d’Archaeopteryx est-il de “type avien” ou de “type reptilien”?,” CR Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. D 267(25), 2108–2110 (1968).
C. Dechaseaux, “Moulages endocraniens d’oiseaux de l’Éocène supérieur du bassin de Paris,” Ann. Paléontol. Vertébr. 56(1), 69–72 (1970).
T. Edinger, “The Brain of Archaeopteryx,” Ann. Mag. Natur. Hist., Ser. 9 18(9), 151–156 (1956).
T. Edinger, “The Brain of Pterodactylus,” Am. J. Sci. 239(9), 665–682 (1941).
T. Edinger, “The Brains of the Odontognathae,” Evolution 5(1), 6–24 (1951).
A. Elzanowski and P. M. Galton, “Braincase of Enaliornis, an Early Cretaceous Bird from England,” J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 11(1), 90–107 (1991).
A. Elzanowski and P. Wellnhofer, “Cranial Morphology of Archaeopteryx: Evidence from the Seventh Skeleton,” J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 16(1), 81–94 (1996).
P. M. Galton and L. D. Martin, “Postcranial Anatomy and Systematics of Enaliornis Seeley, 1876, a Foot-propelled Diving Bird (Aves: Ornithurae: Hesperornithiformes) from the Early Cretaceous of England,” Rev. Paléobiol. 21(2), 489–538 (2002).
L. M. Gerasimenko, I. V. Goncharova, G. A. Zavarzin, et al., “Dynamics of Release and Absorption of Phosphorus by Cyanobacteria,” in Ecosystem Rearrangements and the Evolution of the Biosphere, Ed. by A. Yu. Rozanov and M. A. Semikhatov (Nedra, Moscow, 1994), Vol. 1, pp. 348–353 [in Russian].
A. N. Iwaniuk and J. E. Nelson, “Can Endocranial Volume be Used as an Estimate of Brain Size in Birds?,” Can. J. Zool. 80(1), 16–23 (2002).
H. J. Jerison, “Brain Evolution and Archaeopteryx,” Nature 219(5161), 1381–1382 (1968).
H. J. Jerison, “Evolution of the Brain and Intelligence” (Academic, New York, 1973).
E. N. Kurochkin, “Synopsis of Mesozoic Birds and Early Evolution of Class Aves,” Archaeopteryx, No. 13, 47–66 (1995).
E. N. Kurochkin, A New Enantiornithid of the Mongolian Late Cretaceous, and a General Appraisal of the Infraclass Enantiornithes (Aves) (Palaeontol. Inst. Russ. Acad. Sci., Moscow, 1996).
E. N. Kurochkin, “New Ideas about the Origin and Early Evolution of Birds,” in Achievements and Problems of Ornithology of Northern Eurasia at the Boundary of Centuries, Ed. by E. N. Kurochkin and I.I. Rakhimov. (Magarif, Kazan, 2001), pp. 68–96 [in Russian].
E. N. Kurochkin, “Parallel Evolution of Theropod Dinosaurs and Birds,” Zool. Zh. 85(3), 283–297 (2006).
E. N. Kurochkin, “New Fossil Birds from the Cretaceous of Russia,” in Sixth International Meeting of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution: Abstracts, Quillan, France, Ed. by E. Buffetaut and J. Le Loeuff (Quillan, 2004), pp. 35–36.
O. Ch. Marsh, Odonthornithes: A Monograph on the Extinct Toothed Birds of North America (Govern. Print. Office, Washington, 1880).
L. D. Martin, “The Origin and Early Radiation of Birds,” in Perspectives in Ornithology, Ed. by A. H. Brush and G. A. Clark (Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1983), pp. 291–338.
L. D. Martin, “A New Skeletal Model of Archaeopteryx,” Archaeopteryx 13, 33–40 (1995).
J. Mlíkovský, “Zwei Vogelgehirne aus dem Miozän Böhmens,” Casopis Mineral. Geol. 25(4), 409–413 (1980).
R. Nieuwenhuys, The Central Nervous System of Vertebrates (Springer, Berlin-Heidelberg, 1998).
A. G. Olfer’ev and A. S. Alekseev, Stratigraphic Chart of Upper Cretaceous Deposits of the East European Platform: Explanatory Report (Paleontol. Inst. Ross. Akad. Nauk, Moscow, 2005) [in Russian].
H. Osmólska, “Evidence on Relation of Brain to Endocranial Cavity in Oviraptorid Dinosaurs,” Acta Palaeontol. Polon. 49(2), 321–324 (2004).
E. M. Pervushov, M. S. Arkhangelsky, and A. V. Ivanov, Catalogue of Localities with Remains of Marine Reptiles in Jurassic and Cretaceous Deposits of the Lower Volga Region (Kolledzh, Saratov, 1999a) [in Russian].
E. M. Pervushov, V. G. Ochev, A. V. Ivanov, and B. T. Yanin, “Paleoecologostratinomic Characteristics of the Turonian Phosphorite Horizon in the Vicinity of Zhirnovsk (Volgograd Region),” in Selected Works of All-Russia Scientific Conference on the Problems of Biosphere Studies (Kolledzh, Saratov, 1999b), pp. 82–103 [in Russian].
S. V. Saveliev, Comparative Anatomy of the Vertebrate Nervous System (Geotar-Med, Moscow, 2001) [in Russian].
S. V. Saveliev, The Origin of Brain (Vedi, Moscow, 2005) [in Russian].
K. N. Whetstone, “Braincase of Mesozoic Birds: 1. New Preparation of the “London” Archaeopteryx,” J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 2(4), 439–452 (1983).
L. M. Witmer, S. Chatterjee, J. Franzosa, and T. Rowe, “Neuroanatomy of Flying Reptiles and Implications for Flight, Posture and Behaviour,” Nature 425(6991), 950–953 (2002).
X. Xu, M. A. Norell, X.-L. Wang, et al., “A Basal Troodontid from the Early Cretaceous of China,” Nature 415(6873), 780–784 (2002).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Original Russian Text © E.N. Kurochkin, S.V. Saveliev, A.A. Postnov, E.M. Pervushov, E.V. Popov, 2006, published in Paleontologicheskii Zhurnal, 2006, No. 6, pp. 69–80.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kurochkin, E.N., Saveliev, S.V., Postnov, A.A. et al. On the brain of a primitive bird from the upper Cretaceous of European Russia. Paleontol. J. 40, 655–667 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030106060086
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030106060086