Yuornis
![]() | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (January 2022) |
Yuornis Temporal range: Late Cretaceous
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | Theropoda |
Clade: | Avialae |
Clade: | †Enantiornithes |
Genus: | †Yuornis Xu et al., 2021 |
Species: | †Y. junchangi
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Binomial name | |
†Yuornis junchangi Xu et al., 2021
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Yuornis (meaning "Henan bird", after the one Chinese character abbreviation of Henan, 豫 (pinyin: Yù)) is a genus of Late Cretaceous enantiornithine bird from Henan, China. It contains one species, Yuornis junchangi, named after the late Lü Junchang.[1]
Description[]
The holotype specimen is remarkably complete for a Late Cretaceous enantiornithine, possessing an extremely well-preserved skull and wing bones. Unlike most enantiornithines, the skull of Yuornis was convergently similar to that of modern birds, being completely toothless.[1]
Classification[]
Xu et al. found Yuornis to be sister to Gobipteryx, which would by definition place it in the family Gobipterygidae, but they refrained from assigning to the family.[1]
References[]
- ^ a b c Xu, Li; Buffetaut, Eric; O’Connor, Jingmai; Zhang, Xingliao; Jia, Songhai; Zhang, Jiming; Chang, Huali; Tong, Haiyan (November 2021). "A new, remarkably preserved, enantiornithine bird from the Upper Cretaceous Qiupa Formation of Henan (central China) and convergent evolution between enantiornithines and modern birds". Geological Magazine. 158 (11): 2087–2094. doi:10.1017/S0016756821000807. ISSN 0016-7568. S2CID 238748196.
Categories:
- Enantiornitheans
- Extinct birds of Asia
- Fossil taxa described in 2021