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PMID: 9027308 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Mass survival of birds across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary: molecular evidence.

Science (New York, N.Y.) ·Vol. 275 ·No. 5303 ·1997-02-21 ·Pages 1109-13

Cooper A, Penny D

Abstract

The extent of terrestrial vertebrate extinctions at the end of the Cretaceous is poorly understood, and estimates have ranged from a mass extinction to limited extinctions of specific groups. Molecular and paleontological data demonstrate that modern bird orders started diverging in the Early Cretaceous; at least 22 avian lineages of modern birds cross the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. Data for several other terrestrial vertebrate groups indicate a similar pattern of survival and, taken together, favor incremental changes during a Cretaceous diversification of birds and mammals rather than an explosive radiation in the Early Tertiary.

MeSH Terms
Animals Base Sequence Biological Evolution Birds/genetics Evolution, Molecular Fossils Genes Genes, mos Mammals/genetics Mitochondria/genetics Molecular Sequence Data Phylogeny RNA, Ribosomal/genetics
Chemicals
RNA, Ribosomal RNA, ribosomal, 12S
Authors & Affiliations
2 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Cooper A
School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand. [email protected]
Penny D
Article Info
Journal
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Abbr.
Science
ISSN
0036-8075
DOI
10.1126/science.275.5303.1109
Email
[email protected]
Published
1997-02-21
Pages
1109-13
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
0404511
Subset
IM
Databases
GENBANK
U88000, U88001, U88002, U88003, U88004, U88005, U88006, U88007, U88008, U88009, U88010, U88011, U88012, U88013, U88014, U88015, U88016, U88017, U88018, U88019, U88020, U88021, U88022, U88023, U88024, U88025, U88026, U88027, U88028, U88417
Corrections
CommentIn
PMID: 9054008
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1126/science.275.5303.1109 View journal details
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