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Confuciusornithidae
Confuciusornithidae is an extinct family of pygostylian avialans known from the Early Cretaceous, found in northern China. They are commonly placed as a sister group to Ornithothoraces, a group that contains all extant birds along with their closest extinct relatives. Confuciusornithidae contains four genera, possessing both shafted and non-shafted (downy) feathers. They are also noted for their distinctive pair of ribbon-like tail feathers of disputed function. The wing anatomy of confuciusornithids suggests an unusual flight behavior, due to anatomy that implies conflicting abilities. They possessed feathers similar to those of fast-flapping birds, which rely on quick flapping of their wings to stay aloft. At the same time, their wing anatomy also suggests a lack of flapping ability. Confuciusornithids are also noted for their beak and lack of teeth, similar to modern birds. Both predators and prey, confuciusornithid fossils have been observed with fish remains in their digestive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yangavis
''Yangavis'' is a basal Pygostylia, pygostylian genus, belonging to the Confuciusornithidae, that in the Early Cretaceous lived in the area of present China. The type species is ''Yangavis confucii''. Discovery and naming At Sihedang, in Liaoning, a fossil avialan skeleton was excavated. In 2018, the type species ''Yangavis confucii'' was named and described by Wang Min (paleontologist), Wang Min and Zhou Zhonghe. The generic name honours the Chinese paleontologist Yang Zhongjian on the occasion of his 121st birthday, connecting his name with a Latin ''avis'', "bird". The specific name (zoology), specific name honours Confucius, at the same time referring to the Confuciusornithidae. The holotype, IVPP V18929, was found in a layer of the Yixian Formation dating from the Aptian. It consists of an almost complete articulated skeleton, compressed on a single plate. Description ''Yangavis'' has a wingspan of about half a metre. It differs from all other known Confuciusornithidae ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Confuciusornis Sanctus
''Confuciusornis'' is a genus of basal crow-sized avialan from the Early Cretaceous Period of the Yixian and Jiufotang Formations of China, dating from 125 to 120 million years ago. Like modern birds, ''Confuciusornis'' had a toothless beak, but closer and later relatives of modern birds such as ''Hesperornis'' and ''Ichthyornis'' were toothed, indicating that the loss of teeth occurred convergently in ''Confuciusornis'' and living birds. It is the oldest known bird to have a beak. It was named after the Chinese moral philosopher Confucius (551–479 BC). ''Confuciusornis'' is one of the most abundant vertebrates found in the Yixian Formation, and several hundred complete specimens have been found. History of discovery In November 1993, the Chinese paleontologists Hou Lianhai and Hu Yoaming of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) at Beijing, visited fossil collector Zhang He at his home in Jinzhou, where he showed them a fossil bird specimen t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Confuciusornis
''Confuciusornis'' is a genus of basal crow-sized avialan from the Early Cretaceous Period of the Yixian and Jiufotang Formations of China, dating from 125 to 120 million years ago. Like modern birds, ''Confuciusornis'' had a toothless beak, but closer and later relatives of modern birds such as ''Hesperornis'' and ''Ichthyornis'' were toothed, indicating that the loss of teeth occurred convergently in ''Confuciusornis'' and living birds. It is the oldest known bird to have a beak. It was named after the Chinese moral philosopher Confucius (551–479 BC). ''Confuciusornis'' is one of the most abundant vertebrates found in the Yixian Formation, and several hundred complete specimens have been found. History of discovery In November 1993, the Chinese paleontologists Hou Lianhai and Hu Yoaming of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) at Beijing, visited fossil collector Zhang He at his home in Jinzhou, where he showed them a fossil bird specimen t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pygostylia
Pygostylia is a group of avialans which includes the Confuciusornithidae and all of the more advanced species, the Ornithothoraces. Definition The group Pygostylia was intended to encompass all avialans with a short, stubby tail, as opposed to the longer, unfused tails of more primitive species like ''Archaeopteryx lithographica''. It was named by Sankar Chatterjee in 1997.Chatterjee, S. 1997. ''The Rise of Birds.'' Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 312 pp. Luis Chiappe later defined Pygostylia as a node-based clade, "the common ancestor of the Confuciusornithidae and Neornithes plus all its descendants". In 2001, Jacques Gauthier and Kevin de Queiroz recommended that Chatterjee's original apomorphy-based clade concept be used instead of Chiappe's node-based definition,Gauthier, J., & De Queiroz, K. (2001). Feathered dinosaurs, flying dinosaurs, crown dinosaurs, and the name" Aves. ''New perspectives on the origin and early evolution of birds'', 7-41. but this recommendat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pygostylia
Pygostylia is a group of avialans which includes the Confuciusornithidae and all of the more advanced species, the Ornithothoraces. Definition The group Pygostylia was intended to encompass all avialans with a short, stubby tail, as opposed to the longer, unfused tails of more primitive species like ''Archaeopteryx lithographica''. It was named by Sankar Chatterjee in 1997.Chatterjee, S. 1997. ''The Rise of Birds.'' Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 312 pp. Luis Chiappe later defined Pygostylia as a node-based clade, "the common ancestor of the Confuciusornithidae and Neornithes plus all its descendants". In 2001, Jacques Gauthier and Kevin de Queiroz recommended that Chatterjee's original apomorphy-based clade concept be used instead of Chiappe's node-based definition,Gauthier, J., & De Queiroz, K. (2001). Feathered dinosaurs, flying dinosaurs, crown dinosaurs, and the name" Aves. ''New perspectives on the origin and early evolution of birds'', 7-41. but this recommendat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pygostyle
Pygostyle describes a skeletal condition in which the final few caudal vertebrae are fused into a single ossification, supporting the tail feathers and musculature. In modern birds, the rectrices attach to these. The pygostyle is the main component of the uropygium, a structure colloquially known as the bishop's nose, parson's nose, pope's nose, or sultan's nose. This is the fleshy protuberance visible at the posterior end of a bird (most commonly a chicken or turkey) that has been dressed for cooking. It has a swollen appearance because it also contains the uropygial gland that produces preen oil. Evolution Pygostyles probably began to evolve very early in the Cretaceous period, perhaps 140 – 130 million years ago. The earliest known species to have evolved a pygostyle were members of the Confuciusornithidae. The structure provided an evolutionary advantage, as a completely mobile tail as found in species such as '' Archaeopteryx'' is detrimental to its use for flight contro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Changchengornis
''Changchengornis'' is an extinct basal pygostylian genus from the Early Cretaceous. Its remains have been found in the People's Republic of China, in Chaomidianzi Formation rocks from around the Barremian-Aptian boundary, deposited 125 million years ago. ''Changchengornis'' was a close relative of the better-known ''Confuciusornis''. In 1999 it was assigned to the Confuciusornithidae. The more pointed bill of ''Changchengornis'' might indicate a diet different from that of ''Confuciusornis''. However, of ''Confuciusornis'' itself it is contested whether it were a fish eater, an omnivore, or a seed eater. Discovery In 1998 Ji Shuan and Luis Chiappe discovered among the many specimens of the National Geological Museum of China at Beijing assigned to ''Confuciusornis'', an exemplar that seemed somewhat different. Subsequent preparation by the American Museum of Natural History showed that it indeed was a separate species, new to science. In 1999 Ji, Chiappe and Ji Qiang named ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eoconfuciusornis
''Eoconfuciusornis'' a genus of extinct avialan that lived 131 Ma ago, in the Early Cretaceous of China. The type species of ''Eoconfuciusornis'', ''Eoconfuciusornis zhengi'', was named and described by Zhang Fucheng, Zhou Zhonghe and Michael Benton in 2008. The generic name combines a Greek ἠώς, ''eos'', "dawn", with the name of the related genus ''Confuciusornis''. The specific name honours Zheng Guangmei. The holotype, specimen IVPP V11977, was found near Sichakou in Fengning in Hebei province. Its provenance the Sichakou Beds are part of the Dabeigou Formation which was seen by the describers as dating to the Hauterivian, and were thought to be about 131 million years old. The specimen consists of a compressed skeleton that is relatively complete and shows well conserved remains of most of the feathering. ''Eoconfuciusornis'' was somewhat smaller than ''Confuciusornis'', but otherwise very similar with a pointed toothless beak. Compared to the latter it had longe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avialae
Avialae ("bird wings") is a clade containing the only living dinosaurs, the birds. It is usually defined as all theropod dinosaurs more closely related to birds (Aves) than to deinonychosaurs, though alternative definitions are occasionally used (see below). ''Archaeopteryx lithographica'', from the late Jurassic Period Solnhofen Formation of Germany, is possibly the earliest known avialan which may have had the capability of powered flight, though it might have been a deinonychosaur instead. Several older (but non flight-capable) avialans are known from the late Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation of China, dated to about 160 million years ago. Definition Most researchers define Avialae as branch-based clade, though definitions vary. Many authors have used a definition similar to "all theropods closer to birds than to ''Deinonychus''."Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halszka (eds.) (2004). ''The Dinosauria'', Second Edition. University of California Press., 861 pp. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sapeornis
''Sapeornis'' is a monotypic genus of avialan which lived during the early Cretaceous period ( late Barremian to early Aptian, roughly 125-120 mya). ''Sapeornis'' contains only one species, ''Sapeornis chaoyangensis''. Description ''Sapeornis'' was large for an early avialan, about long in life, excluding the tail feathers. The hand of ''Sapeornis'' was far more derived than that of ''Archaeopteryx''. It had three fingers, the outer ones with two and the middle one with three phalanges, and a well-fused carpometacarpus. Its arms were about half again as long as the legs, suggesting a large wing area. On the other hand, its shoulder girdle was apparently ill-adapted to flapping flight and its furcula was unusual, with a hypocleidum similar to more advanced avialans but a general anatomy even more basal than in ''Archaeopteryx''. The humerus was large and bore holes, apparently to save weight, as in the Confuciusornithidae. The skull has a handful of teeth in the upper jawtip ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evgenavis
''Evgenavis'' (named after the Russian paleontologist Evgeny Kurochkin) is a genus of extinct basal bird that lived from the Barremian to the Aptian. The type specimen ZIN PH 1/154 is an isolated tarsometatarsus found in the Ilek Formation (Shestakovo locality), Western Siberia. ''Evgenavis'' may have been the only confuciusornithiform known outside the Jehol Biota, although there is also the possibility that it could have been a different type of avialan, such as an enantiornithean or a relative of ''Vorona''. A cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to d ... within a 2019 study involving a wide range of theropods included ''Evgenavis'' as a longipterygid.Hartman, Scott; Mortimer, Mickey; Wahl, William R.; Lomax, Dean R.; Lippincott, Jessica; Lovelace, David M. (201 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mandibular Symphysis
In human anatomy, the facial skeleton of the skull the external surface of the mandible is marked in the median line by a faint ridge, indicating the mandibular symphysis (Latin: ''symphysis menti'') or line of junction where the two lateral halves of the mandible typically fuse at an early period of life (1-2 years). It is not a true symphysis as there is no cartilage between the two sides of the mandible. This ridge divides below and encloses a triangular eminence, the mental protuberance, the base of which is depressed in the center but raised on either side to form the mental tubercle. The lowest (most inferior) end of the mandibular symphysis — the point of the chin — is called the "menton". It serves as the origin for the geniohyoid and the genioglossus muscles. Other animals Solitary mammalian carnivores that rely on a powerful canine bite to subdue their prey have a strong mandibular symphysis, while pack hunters delivering shallow bites have a weaker one. When filter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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