Yungavolucris Brevipedalis

''Yungavolucris'' is a genus of enantiornithean birds. It contains the single species ''Yungavolucris brevipedalis'', which lived in the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian, c.70.6 – 66 mya). The fossil bones were found in the Lecho Formation at ''estancia'' El Brete, Argentina."''Yungavolucris brevipedalis''" means "Short-footed Yungas bird". The generic name, ''Yungavolucris'' is after the Yungas region + the Latin ''volucris'', which translates to "bird" (literally "flyer"). The specific name ''brevipedalis'' is from the Latin ''brevis'', which means "short", + ''pedalis'', from the Latin ''pes'', meaning "foot".

Description

The only remains of ''Yungavolucris'' discovered so far consist of several tarsometatarsals, of which only the holotype (PVL-4053) is nearly complete. These tarsometatarsals are unusually very stout and flat, and also very wide at the lower end. These specimens are small, just over 4 cm (1.5 inches) long, and if its legs and feet were not excessively shortened in relation to the body, the bird was about the size of a large blackbird in life. The width of the bone is considerable though, being about twice the width of the tarsometatarsals of ''Lectavis'' and ''Soroavisaurus'', two of its contemporaries. Thus, if the leg and foot only shortened and did not also become wider, it might be expected to have been a heavily built, sluggish and maybe even flightless bird the size of a large chicken: a length of , hip height of , and weight of .

Metatarsal IV ( the outermost bone of the tarsometatarsus) is very thin and diminished, but nevertheless about the same length as metatarsal III (the middle bone of the tarsometatarsus). In addition, the end of metatarsal III is bent outwards, to a position that would in other birds fall between toes 3 and 4. Metatarsal II (the innermost preserved bone of the tarsometatarsus) has a very broad and pulley-shaped trochlea (toe joint). A small bony bump (a dorsomedial projection) is present just above the inside edge of this trochlea. A ridge extends between the metatarsals II and III in the lower part of each bone. The middle of metatarsal II preserved a large tubercule (a node for muscle attachment) while the near part of metatarsal III possesses a thin ridge. No metatarsal I or hallux is preserved in any of the specimens. As in most enantiornitheans, no hypotarsus (a wide ridge on the back of the tarsometatarsus) is present.

Relationships

Irrespective of the peculiar autapomorphies present in this taxon's remains, its affinities are uncertain. It has sometimes been compared to avisaurids, a group of late Cretaceous enantiornitheans which are also primarily known from tarsometatarsals. A small phylogenetic analysis performed during its initial description in 1993 found several most parsimonious trees with conflicting results. Some placed it as a closer relative of avisaurids than '' Lectavis bretincola'' (an unusually long-legged enantiornithean discovered in the same deposit) was. However, other most parsimonious trees offered the opposite result, with ''Lectavis'' being a closer relative of avisaurids than ''Yungavolucris''.

Since 1993, additional analyses have broadened the gap between ''Yungavolucris'' and avisaurids. Other enantiornitheans, such as ''Enantiophoenix'', ''Halimornis'', and ''Concornis'', have been found to be closer to ''Avisaurus'' than either ''Yungavolucris'' or ''Lectavis''. A close relationship between the two El Brete taxa and ''Avisaurus'' seems highly unlikely.

As only the tarsometatarsus is known from ''Yungavolucris'', it might be the same species as one of the other El Brete enantiornitheans described based on forelimb bones. The size of ''Yungavolucris'' is hard to tell; the comparatively huge ''Enantiornis'' might be a match if ''Yungavolucris'' had short legs of normal width, but ''Enantiornis'' seems to be a fairly conventionally-built taxon. If ''Yungavolucris'' had both unusually short ''and'' wide legs, it might have been the size of the small species of ''Martinavis'' or maybe the slightly larger ''Elbretornis''. However, these genera have tibiotarsus material tentatively referred to them, and while this material may not actually belong to ''Martinavis'' or ''Elbretornis'', it does not match the shape of a tibiotarsus that would form a working ankle with the ''Yungavolucris'' tarsometatarsus.

A few studies have recovered it as a close relative of ''Grabauornis''.

See also

* ''Gargantuavis'' - a huge flightless bird of unknown affiliations, a European contemporary of ''Yungavolucris''
* ''Patagopteryx'' – a mid-sized flightless relative of modern birds from southern Argentina, slightly older than ''Yungavolucris''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q8061277

Euenantiornitheans
Bird genera
Maastrichtian life
Cretaceous birds of South America
Late Cretaceous animals of South America
Cretaceous Argentina
Fossils of Argentina
Lecho Formation
Yungas
Fossil taxa described in 1993
Taxa named by Luis M. Chiappe