title: A gigantic bird from the Upper Cretaceous of Central Asia.
abstract: We describe an enormous Late Cretaceous fossil bird from Kazakhstan, known from a pair of edentulous mandibular rami (greater than 275 mm long), which adds significantly to our knowledge of Mesozoic avian morphological and ecological diversity. A suite of autapomorphies lead us to recognize the specimen as a new taxon. Phylogenetic analysis resolves this giant bird deep within Aves as a basal member of Ornithuromorpha. This Kazakh fossil demonstrates that large body size evolved at least once outside modern birds (Neornithes) and reveals hitherto unexpected trophic diversity within Cretaceous Aves.
authors.affiliation: School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK.
authors.forename: Darren
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Naish
authors.forename: Gareth
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dyke
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cau
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Escuillié
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Godefroit
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001717:Birds / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005580:Fossils; D007623:Kazakhstan; D008334:Mandible / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D010163:Paleontology; D010802:Phylogeny; D013045:Species Specificity