| Title |
Hummingbird with modern feathering: an exceptionally well-preserved Oligocene fossil from southern France
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
The Science of Nature, September 2007
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s00114-007-0309-0 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Antoine Louchart, Nicolas Tourment, Julie Carrier, Thierry Roux, Cécile Mourer-Chauviré |
| Abstract |
Hummingbirds (Trochilidae) today have an exclusively New World distribution, but their pre-Pleistocene fossil record comes from Europe only. In this study, we describe an exceptionally preserved fossil hummingbird from the early Oligocene of southeastern France. The specimen is articulated, with a completely preserved beak and feathering. Osteological characters allow to identify it as Eurotrochilus sp. This genus is a stem group representative of Trochilidae and was recently described from the early Oligocene of southern Germany. The new fossil reveals that these European Trochilidae were remarkably modern in size, skeletal proportions and the shape of the wing, tail and beak and hyoid bones. These features confirm the early acquisition of the abilities of hovering and nectarivory in hummingbirds, probably before the Oligocene. In several morphological characteristics, they resemble members of the 'true hummingbirds' (subfamily Trochilinae) and differ from hermits (Phaethornithinae). These features, which include a short and square tail and a moderately long, almost straight beak, appear to be primitive within the family Trochilidae. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 4 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| France | 1 | 25% |
| Spain | 1 | 25% |
| Unknown | 2 | 50% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 3 | 75% |
| Scientists | 1 | 25% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 73 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Chile | 3 | 4% |
| Germany | 2 | 3% |
| Brazil | 2 | 3% |
| France | 1 | 1% |
| Canada | 1 | 1% |
| New Zealand | 1 | 1% |
| United States | 1 | 1% |
| Unknown | 62 | 85% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Researcher | 24 | 33% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 13 | 18% |
| Student > Master | 10 | 14% |
| Student > Bachelor | 7 | 10% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 4 | 5% |
| Other | 8 | 11% |
| Unknown | 7 | 10% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 42 | 58% |
| Earth and Planetary Sciences | 16 | 22% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 4 | 5% |
| Environmental Science | 2 | 3% |
| Linguistics | 1 | 1% |
| Other | 0 | 0% |
| Unknown | 8 | 11% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 22. 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 30 March 2024.
All research outputs
#1,716,437
of 25,602,335 outputs
Outputs from The Science of Nature
#232
of 2,273 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#3,467
of 84,497 outputs
Outputs of similar age from The Science of Nature
#3
of 12 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,602,335 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 93rd percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 2,273 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 14.1. This one has done well, scoring higher than 89% 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 84,497 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 95% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 12 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 83% of its contemporaries.