Vegavis had a syrinx

[Halichoeres]

New paper shows evidence that the Cretaceous stem-duck Vegavis had a fully-formed syrinx (predicted by phylogenetic character optimization, but this is physical evidence).
Paper: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature19852.html
Pretty reasonable write-up: http://www.livescience.com/56460-oldest-bird-syrinx-found-in-antarctica.html

[paleoferroequine]

   Oh, a squawk box. And here I thought it was a title of a Dr. Seuss story.

[Dinoguy2]

New paper shows evidence that the Cretaceous stem-duck Vegavis had a fully-formed syrinx (predicted by phylogenetic character optimization, but this is physical evidence).
Paper: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature19852.html
Pretty reasonable write-up: http://www.livescience.com/56460-oldest-bird-syrinx-found-in-antarctica.html

One interesting conclusion of this study is that since many other Mesozoic birds don't preserve a syrinx despite being better preserved specimens, the syrinx might not have even evolved until Neornithes.

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

   Oh, a squawk box. And here I thought it was a title of a Dr. Seuss story.

I thought it was about a gastropod at first. 

[GasmaskMax]

Personally I think earlier birds and non avians may have still had a syrinx, but it was mere chance it didnt preserve. Like not all complete dinosaur specimens showing skin coverings or that new stegosaurus specimen not having preserved throat armor.

[Sinornis]

Thank you for posting the links to this article in Live Science, I completely missed it.

One thing jumped out at me in the article that confused me a bit. It states that " Now that scientists know that the syrinx — which is made of cartilage and often degrades too easily to remain in the fossil record — can be preserved, it's unclear why no syrinx remains have been found in dinosaurs, the researchers said".

But in a quick internet search for information about Cassowary syrinxes, I came across this info about Greater Rhea syrinxes, the studies title,"The peculiar syrinx of Rhea americana  (Greater Rhea, Palaeognathae)"

Anatomical syrinx dissections on four adults (one female and three males) and eight unsexed chicks, were made. The type of the syrinx was tracheobronchial and it was entirely cartilaginous in chicks and in the adult female but showed a partially cartilaginous and osseous pessulus in male adults. The syrinx of Greater Rhea was notable for having a more complex morphology than other Paleognathae birds. Future studies on how Rhea produces vocalizations will allow the comparison with other birds, and contribute to the understanding of the evolution of soundproduction mechanisms in birds.

The article in Live Science also goes on to say that "Perhaps birds, which evolved from the mostly meat-eating, bipedal theropod dinosaurs, developed the syrinx after they learned to fly and acquired improvements in breathing and metabolism that helped it fly and sing, the researchers said. This suggests that dinosaurs did not have syrinxes, and so couldn't sing like birds do, the scientists added".

So I ask, but if Rheas, which are described as more primitive and reptilian than that in other birds and that through evolution lost the ability to fly, have proven ossified syrinxes, does this imply in any way that other secondarily flightless dinosaurs like larger dromaeosaurids may have had the ability to sing??  If learning to fly is a prerequisite to a syrinx and song, I find it hard to believe that researchers would ignore the likelihood that some of these bird-like larger dromaeosaurs were possibly secondarily flightless, and in fact may have had syrinxes.

The researchers also was quoted as saying; "I had actually started thinking about the fossilization potential of the syrinx, I was shocked to find that this fossil, which had actually been in my lab for a number of years, had a fossil syrinx."

It also makes you wonder how many other fossilized syrinxes are being overlooked out there!           

[Halichoeres]

I'm not sure how good the evidence is for dromaeosaurs having been flightless, but even if they weren't, it's not obvious to me why flight would be a prerequisite for singing (sure, the breathing apparatus would make you better at it). I think a lot of people, in the wake of this paper, will start looking around at their theropod fossils, and a few years from now we'll see a few more syringes described from unexpected taxa.

[stargatedalek]

I'm not sure how good the evidence is for dromaeosaurs having been flightless, but even if they weren't, it's not obvious to me why flight would be a prerequisite for singing (sure, the breathing apparatus would make you better at it). I think a lot of people, in the wake of this paper, will start looking around at their theropod fossils, and a few years from now we'll see a few more syringes described from unexpected taxa.

Microraptor was probably capable, since it generated its best lift at speed, but it isn't ancestral by any means. Rather I would posture flight evolved in Microraptor through neoteny, as the proportions of juvenile Deinonychus have also shown a high probability of limited powered flight.
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/climbing-flying-babies-of-deinonychus/

All of this mind you is in turn in favour of a flighted ancestor for the entire group. If powered flight is connected to the evolution of the syrinx than dromaeosaurs probably had it, or at least something equivalent.

This now presents us further questions, how likely is it that a post-flight species should loose a syrinx? What does that mean for groups like Oviraptors or Therizinosaurs who may also share a common flighted ancestor? And could a syrinx be lost or atrophied as an animal transitions to a more terrestrial lifestyle simply as it ages?

[Sinornis]

The article in Live Science also goes on to say that "Perhaps birds, which evolved from the mostly meat-eating, bipedal theropod dinosaurs, developed the syrinx after they learned to fly and acquired improvements in breathing and metabolism that helped it fly and sing, the researchers said. This suggests that dinosaurs did not have syrinxes, and so couldn't sing like birds do, the scientists added".[/quote]

Wouldn't bipedality improve breathing and metabolism just the same? Maybe small, active ground-dwelling theropods evolved syrinxes first and some sort of song?


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