Lectavis

Taxobox
name = "Lectavis"
status = fossil
fossil_range = Late Cretaceous
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
subclassis = Enantiornithes
superordo = Euenantiornithes
ordo = Enantiornithiformes?
genus = "Lectavis"
genus_authority = Chiappe, 1993
species = "L. bretincola"
binomial = "Lectavis bretincola"
binomial_authority = Chiappe, 1993

"Lectavis" is a genus of enantiornithine bird. Its fossil bones were recovered from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian, c.70.6-65.5 mya) Lecho Formation at "estancia" El Brete, Argentina. The genus contains a single species, "Lectavis bretincola" [
Etymology: "Lecho Formation bird living at El Brete". "Lectavis", after Latin "lectus" ("bed") = Spanish "lecho" + Latin "avis", "bird". "bretincola", after the type locality "estancia" El Brete + Latin "incola", "inhabitant".] .

The only known (this far) fossil bones (PVL-4021-1) are most of the left tibiotarsus (lower leg) and tarsometatarsus (upper foot) of a single individual. "L. bretincola" was a sizeable bird, with a 16-cm tibiotarsus and a tarsometatarsus which if complete must have been nearly 10 cm long (Chiappe 1993); this would make it roughly similar to a large curlew in size and at least in leg shape. It is most interesting in possessing a hypotarsus, which it evolved autapomorphically from modern birds, as it covers the upper end of the second, not the third toe's bones. This structure serves to attach and arrest the posterior cruciate ligament, which in turn prevents the lower and upper leg from shifting out of position during walking.

Thus, it can be concluded that "L. bretincola" was a much more terrestrial species than its relative "Yungavolucris brevipedalis" which lived at the same time and place. Its habitat was a richly vegetated coastal area that was dotted by - possibly brackish - lakes and/or small rivers (Chiappe 1993), and it might thus be that the present species represents a case parallel evolution with waders and similar semi-aquatic forms, or even a running bird similar to an oversized courser, and quite unlike anything living today.

It was a rather advanced species of enantiornithine and possibly quite closely related to "Enantiornis" and "Avisaurus", but more likely closer to other Euenantiornithes (Sanz "et al." 1995). Its exact relationships, as with most enantiornithine birds, are unresolved however.

References

* Chiappe, Luis M. (1993): Enantiornithine (Aves) Tarsometatarsi from the Cretaceous Lecho Formation of Northwestern Argentina. "American Museum Novitates" 3083: 1-27. [English with Spanish abstract] [http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/4981/1/N3083.pdf PDF fulltext]

* Sanz, José L., Chiappe, Luis M. & Buscalioni, Angela D. (1995): The Osteology of "Concornis lacustris" (Aves: Enantiornithes) from the Lower Cretaceous of Spain and a Reexamination of its Phylogenetic Relationships. "American Museum Novitates" 3133: 1-23. [English with Spanish abstract] [http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/3667/1/N3133.pdf PDF fulltext]

Footnotes