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From dinosaurs to birds: a tail of evolution

Overview of attention for article published in EvoDevo, July 2014
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • One of the highest-scoring outputs from this source (#1 of 332)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (99th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (99th percentile)

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Title
From dinosaurs to birds: a tail of evolution
Published in
EvoDevo, July 2014
DOI 10.1186/2041-9139-5-25
Pubmed ID
Authors

Dana J Rashid, Susan C Chapman, Hans CE Larsson, Chris L Organ, Anne-Gaelle Bebin, Christa S Merzdorf, Roger Bradley, John R Horner

Abstract

A particularly critical event in avian evolution was the transition from long- to short-tailed birds. Primitive bird tails underwent significant alteration, most notably reduction of the number of caudal vertebrae and fusion of the distal caudal vertebrae into an ossified pygostyle. These changes, among others, occurred over a very short evolutionary interval, which brings into focus the underlying mechanisms behind those changes. Despite the wealth of studies delving into avian evolution, virtually nothing is understood about the genetic and developmental events responsible for the emergence of short, fused tails. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of the signaling pathways and morphological events that contribute to tail extension and termination and examine how mutations affecting the genes that control these pathways might influence the evolution of the avian tail. To generate a list of candidate genes that may have been modulated in the transition to short-tailed birds, we analyzed a comprehensive set of mouse mutants. Interestingly, a prevalent pleiotropic effect of mutations that cause fused caudal vertebral bodies (as in the pygostyles of birds) is tail truncation. We identified 23 mutations in this class, and these were primarily restricted to genes involved in axial extension. At least half of the mutations that cause short, fused tails lie in the Notch/Wnt pathway of somite boundary formation or differentiation, leading to changes in somite number or size. Several of the mutations also cause additional bone fusions in the trunk skeleton, reminiscent of those observed in primitive and modern birds. All of our findings were correlated to the fossil record. An open question is whether the relatively sudden appearance of short-tailed birds in the fossil record could be accounted for, at least in part, by the pleiotropic effects generated by a relatively small number of mutational events.

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X Demographics

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 194 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
United States 2 1%
United Kingdom 1 <1%
Chile 1 <1%
Australia 1 <1%
Unknown 189 97%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Bachelor 36 19%
Student > Ph. D. Student 33 17%
Researcher 25 13%
Student > Master 20 10%
Professor 9 5%
Other 28 14%
Unknown 43 22%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 81 42%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 29 15%
Earth and Planetary Sciences 9 5%
Environmental Science 8 4%
Unspecified 4 2%
Other 16 8%
Unknown 47 24%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 159. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 04 January 2024.
All research outputs
#260,360
of 25,587,485 outputs
Outputs from EvoDevo
#1
of 332 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#2,107
of 240,179 outputs
Outputs of similar age from EvoDevo
#1
of 8 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,587,485 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 98th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 332 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 9.7. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 240,179 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 8 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than all of them