Scratching an ancient itch: an Eocene bird louse fossil
WAPPLER, T., V.S. SMITH, AND R. C. DALGLEISH.
Corresponding Author: Vincent
Smith
e-mail: v.smith@bio.gla.ac.uk
Status: Published in Proceedings
of the Royal Society of London B (Suppl.), Biology Letters
Mini Press Release
An exceptionally preserved fossil louse
from the Eocene of Germany shows that birds have been infested with parasitic
insects for at least the last 44 million years. Remains of the specimen’s
last meal of feathers can be seen preserved within its gut, showing that it ate
feathers like its modern relatives. The fossil is remarkably similar to feather
lice found on today's waterfowl and shorebirds, suggesting that as long as there
have been feathers, there are likely to have been feather lice. This raises the
possibility that bird lice were inherited from early-feathered dinosaurs.
Abstract
Of the thirty extant orders of insects, all but one, the parasitic lice (Insecta:
Phthiraptera), have a confirmed fossil record. Here we report the discovery of
what appears to be the first bird louse fossil – an exceptionally well-preserved
specimen collected from the crater of the Eckfeld maar near Manderscheid, Germany.
The 44 million year old specimen shows close phylogenetic affinities with modern
feather louse ectoparasites of aquatic birds. Preservation of feather remnants
in the specimens’ foregut confirms its association as a bird ectoparasite.
Based on a phylogenetic analysis of the specimen and palaeoecological data we
suggest this louse was the parasite of a large ancestor to modern Anseriformes
(swans, geese and ducks) or Charadriiformes (shorebirds). The crown group position
of this fossil in the phylogeny of lice confirms the groups’ long coevolutionary
history with birds and points to an early origin for lice, perhaps inherited from
early-feathered theropod dinosaurs.
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Wappler, T., V.S.
Smith, and R. C. Dalgleish. (2004) Scratching an ancient
itch: an Eocene bird louse fossil. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London
B (Suppl.), Biology Letters. 03bl0387.S2.
Images
- Figure
1. Megamenopon rasnitsyni and its extant close
relative Holomenopon brevithoracicum (Piaget). (a) Complete
exoskeleton of Megamenopon rasnitsyni. (b) Enlargement of the crop
(encircled), part of the foregut visible within the abdomen. (c) Enlargement
of the rectangular section highlighted in 1b showing feather barbules preserved
within the crop. (d) Holomenopon brevithoracicum from a mute swan
(Cygnus olor (Gmelin)). (e) Enlargement of the Holomenopon
crop. (f) Enlargement of the section highlighted in 1e showing feather barbules
within the Holomenopon crop. Scale bars: (a–b) 2mm, (c) 0.125mm,
(d) 0.5mm, (e) 0.3mm, (f) 0.1mm. Copyright V.Smith, 2004.
- Figure
2. Phylogenetic position of Megamenopon gen. nov. within
the phylogeny for amblyceran lice of birds and mammals. Decay indices are
indicated below the nodes (TBR branch swapping, 1,000 replicates). (a) Phylogeny
of the principal amblyceran louse clades. Number of terminal taxa given in
parentheses. Megamenopon is placed within the Austromenopon-complex
that are parasites of aquatic birds. (b) Strict consensus of two most parsimonious
trees for the Austromenopon-complex. Megamenopon is either placed
in a trichotomy with Austromenopon and Holomenopon as shown
here or as sister taxon to a Austromenopon-Holomenopon clade.
These lice parasitise anseriform, charadriiform and procellariiform birds.
Copyright V.Smith, 2004.
- Supplementary
Figure. Artist's impression of the bird louse Megamenopon
rasnitsyni. Illustration and copyright E. Gröning, 2003.
