Researchers have unearthed fossils of a new bird species in six to nine million-year-old rocks in western China, a finding that points to dry, arid habitats near the edge of the Tibetan Plateau as it rose to its current extreme altitude.
The researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences said the bird is a species of sandgrouse -- a group of 16 species of birds related to doves and pigeons that live in some of the most arid areas across Europe, Asia, and Africa.
According to their study published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, the new species, named Linxiavis inaquosus, fills a nearly 20 million-year gap in the sandgrouse fossil record.
The fossil of the partial skeleton includes much of the body, such as the shoulder girdles, wishbone, bones from both wings, vertebrae, and part of a leg, the researchers said, adding that the head portion was missing.
"As the oldest fossil of a sandgrouse in Asia and the most complete fossil known from the group, the new skeleton provides a key link in expanding our understanding of the evolution of the sandgrouse, as well as the ecosystem associated with the Tibetan Plateau," said LI Zhiheng, first author of the study.
Based on the findings, the scientists determined that the area next to the Tibetan Plateau was equally arid when Linxiavis inaquosus lived during the period known as the late Miocene which extended from 11.6 to 5.3 million years ago.
"Most people would probably think of the Tibetan Plateau, with its high elevation, low oxygen levels, and harsh sun as one of the last places to be invaded by a group of animals. But in this case, our fossil suggests that sandgrouse might have quickly adapted to the dry, mountainous plateau millions of years ago," said study coauthor Thomas A. Stidham.
They said during the late Miocene the Tibetan Plateau was continuing to rise rapidly in altitude and changing the climate of central Asia with an increase in aridity, along with a strong monsoon season.
The newly discovered fossil, the scientists said, was found at over 2,000 meters above sea level and within sight of Tibetan Plateau peaks that exceed 4,000 meters.
They said this elevation is far greater than where all species of sandgrouse, except for the specialised Tibetan Sandgrouse, live today.
Fossils from the area show that despite the elevation and arid conditions, the ecosystem was quite diverse.
"If you were on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau where our fossil is from six or seven million years ago, it would have looked quite like a nature documentary about the savannas in Africa, with the horizon filled with extinct relatives of hyenas, elephants, rhinos, pigs, antelopes and of course now, sandgrouse," Stidham explained.
The scientists believe that the fossil birds in the area by the Tibetan Plateau can help shed better light on the relationships between the plateau, climate change, and biodiversity.
We're likely to keep uncovering more unusual and amazing bird fossils like this sandgrouse and the pheasant with a windpipe longer than its body that we reported a couple of years ago," Li said.
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