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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Royal Society Open Science

Metabolic features of enantiornithines (Avialae: Ornithothoraces): evidence supporting a semi-precocial/precocial developmental trajectory

  • Mariana V. Haase1,2
  • Fabien Knoll3
  • Dennis Voeten4,5
  • Sophie Sanchez6
  • Zhiheng Li7
  • Hugo Bert8
  • Esaú V. de Araújo9
  • Francisco J. Serrano10,11
  • Javier C. Terol11
  • Jesús Marugán-Lobón12
  • Jorge Cubo1
12 affiliations
  1. 1Sorbonne Université, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie—Paris (CR2P, UMR 7207) 1 , 4 Place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, Île-de-France, France
  2. 2Morton K. Blaustein Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University 2 , Baltimore, ML, USA
  3. 3Departamento de Paleobiología, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales—CSIC, Madrid, Spain 3
  4. 4Frisian Museum of Natural History, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands 4
  5. 5European Synchrotron Radiation Facility 5 , Grenoble, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
  6. 6Department of Organismal Biology, Subdepartment of Evolution and Development, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Uppsala County 6 , Sweden
  7. 7Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences 7 , Beijing, People's Republic of China
  8. 8Université Lyon 1, ENS de Lyon, Université Jean Monnet, CNRS, LGL TPE 8 , UMR 5276, Villeurbanne, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
  9. 9Laboratório de Sistemática e Tafonomia de Vertebrados Fósseis (LAPUG), Departamento de Geologia e Paleontologia, Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro 9 , Brazil
  10. 10Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County 10 , Los Angeles, CA, USA
  11. 11Departamento de Ecología y Geología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga 11 , Málaga, Spain
  12. 12Unidad de Paleontología, Dpto. Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid 12 , Madrid, Spain
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Abstract

The enantiornithes, a group of Mesozoic birds, have morphological features suggesting a precocial mode of development; however, their detailed physiological characteristics, particularly hatchling metabolic rates, have yet to be explored. Here, we retrodicted metabolic rates for four Lower Cretaceous enantiornithines: one hatchling, one adult from Las Hoyas, one early post-hatching juvenile and one post-juvenile individual from the Jehol Biota, using phylogenetic comparative analyses and a comprehensive dataset of extant birds spanning the altricial–precocial spectrum. By examining vascular density (related to resting metabolic rate (RMR)) and nutrient foraminal size (proportional to blood flow rate) as proxies, we inferred the metabolic scope of the hatchling enantiornithine and determined that it fell toward the precocial end of the altricial–precocial spectrum. The RMR values of the two enantiornithine chicks were retrodicted as 0.67 mlO2 h–1 g–0.93. The peak metabolic rate (PMR) retrodicted is twice the resting metabolism for the Las Hoyas hatchling. These results are consistent with a semi-precocial/precocial development characterized by independent locomotion by climbing using the wing claws soon after hatching. However, flapping flight may have been delayed, owing to incomplete ossification of the sternum, as observed in one hatchling specimen.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{haase2026metabolic,
  title = {{Metabolic features of enantiornithines (Avialae: Ornithothoraces): evidence supporting a semi-precocial/precocial developmental trajectory}},
  author = {Mariana V. Haase and Fabien Knoll and Dennis Voeten and Sophie Sanchez and Zhiheng Li and Hugo Bert and Esaú V. de Araújo and Francisco J. Serrano and Javier C. Terol and Jesús Marugán-Lobón and Jorge Cubo},
  journal = {Royal Society Open Science},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1098/rsos.260574},
  url = {https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/13/10/260574/483760/Metabolic-features-of-enantiornithines-Avialae},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Metabolic features of enantiornithines (Avialae: Ornithothoraces): evidence supporting a semi-precocial/precocial developmental trajectory
AU  - Mariana V. Haase
AU  - Fabien Knoll
AU  - Dennis Voeten
AU  - Sophie Sanchez
AU  - Zhiheng Li
AU  - Hugo Bert
AU  - Esaú V. de Araújo
AU  - Francisco J. Serrano
AU  - Javier C. Terol
AU  - Jesús Marugán-Lobón
AU  - Jorge Cubo
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/07
JO  - Royal Society Open Science
DO  - 10.1098/rsos.260574
UR  - https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/13/10/260574/483760/Metabolic-features-of-enantiornithines-Avialae
AB  - The enantiornithes, a group of Mesozoic birds, have morphological features suggesting a precocial mode of development; however, their detailed physiological characteristics, particularly hatchling metabolic rates, have yet to be explored. Here, we retrodicted metabolic rates for four Lower Cretaceous enantiornithines: one hatchling, one adult from Las Hoyas, one early post-hatching juvenile and one post-juvenile individual from the Jehol Biota, using phylogenetic comparative analyses and a comprehensive dataset of extant birds spanning the altricial–precocial spectrum. By examining vascular density (related to resting metabolic rate (RMR)) and nutrient foraminal size (proportional to blood flow rate) as proxies, we inferred the metabolic scope of the hatchling enantiornithine and determined that it fell toward the precocial end of the altricial–precocial spectrum. The RMR values of the two enantiornithine chicks were retrodicted as 0.67 mlO2 h–1 g–0.93. The peak metabolic rate (PMR) retrodicted is twice the resting metabolism for the Las Hoyas hatchling. These results are consistent with a semi-precocial/precocial development characterized by independent locomotion by climbing using the wing claws soon after hatching. However, flapping flight may have been delayed, owing to incomplete ossification of the sternum, as observed in one hatchling specimen.
SN  - 2054-5703
ER  -