Qinornis
| Qinornis Temporal range:Paleocene,
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|---|---|
Scientific classification
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Clade: | Avialae |
| Clade: | Ornithuromorpha |
| Clade: | Ornithurae |
| Genus: | †Qinornis Xue, 1995 |
| Species: | †Q. paleocenica
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| Binomial name | |
| †Qinornis paleocenica Xue, 1995
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Qinornisis agenusofextinctornithuranfrom the early-mid-Paleoceneepoch (lateDanianage), about 61 millionyearsago. It is known from a single fossil specimen consisting of a partial hind limb and foot, which was found inFangou Formationdeposits inLuonan County,China.
The bones show uniquely primitive characteristics for its age, and its describer considered that it was either a juvenile of a modernbirdgroup or, if an adult, the only known non-neornithine bird to have survived theCretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.[1]Unusually for such a recent bird, the bones of the foot are not completely fused to one another. This characteristic is found in juvenile modern birds, and in adults of more primitive, non-neornithean ornithurine birds, all of which were assumed to have become extinct in theCretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, despite a sparse late-Maastrichtianfossil record limited primarily to North America.[2]In 2007,Mayrexamined the bones and concluded that they represented an adult, and probably did come from a non-neornithine bird similar toApsaravis.[2]
References
- ^Xue, (1995). "Qinornis paleocenica- a Paleocene bird discovered in China. "Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg,181:89-93.
- ^abMayr G., (2007). "The birds from the Paleocene fissure filling of Walbeck (Germany)."Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology,27(2): 394-408.PDF fulltext.doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[394:TBFTPF2.0.CO;2]
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