Elsornis

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Elsornis
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 80 Ma
PreꞒ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: Avialae
Clade: Enantiornithes
Genus: Elsornis
Chiappe et al., 2007
Species:
E. keni
Binomial name
Elsornis keni
Chiappe et al., 2007

Elsornis is a genus of enantiornithine bird. Only one species is known, Elsornis keni. It lived during the Late Cretaceous. It is known from a partially articulated fossil skeleton found in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia.

The holotype fossil is given catalog number MPD - b 100/201. It is in the collection of the Mongolian Palaeontological Center. The fossil was collected at Togrogiin Shiree, South Gobi Aimak, Mongolia; Djadokhta Formation, Late Cretaceous, Campanian.

The fossil is extremely well preserved in three dimensions. It preserves a pneumatized Furcula, which was a character previously unknown in enantiornithines. Chiappe et al. (2007) conclude from the proportions of Elsornis ' pectoral skeleton that it was flightless or nearly so.[1]

A study by Atterholt et al. in 2018 places Elsornis in the family Avisauridae.[2]

Etymology[]

The Genus name Elsornis is derived from the Mongolian word "Els", meaning "sand", and "ornis", the Greek word for "bird". The species name "keni" honors Mr. Ken Hayashibara.

References[]

  1. ^ Chiappe, Luis M.; Suzuki, Shigeru; Dyke, Gareth J.; Watabe, Mahito; Tsogtbaatar, K.; Barsbold, Rinchen (2007). "A new Enantiornithine bird from the Late Cretaceous of the Gobi desert". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 5 (2): 193–208. doi:10.1017/S1477201906001969.
  2. ^ Atterholt, Jessie; Hutchison, J. Howard; O’Connor, Jingmai K. (2018-11-13). "The most complete enantiornithine from North America and a phylogenetic analysis of the Avisauridae". PeerJ. 6: e5910. doi:10.7717/peerj.5910. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 6238772. PMID 30479894.
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