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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] |
Ilek Formation
The Ilek Formation is a Lower Cretaceous geologic formation in Western Siberia. Many different fossils have been recovered from the formation. It overlies the Late Jurassic Tyazhin Formation and underlies the Albian Kiya Formation. The formation was described by L. A. Ragozin in 1935. It consists of sands with sandstone concretions, layers of silts, clays and marls. Age of the formation, according to a crude 1962 estimate, is Valanginian(?) - Hauterivian - Barremian. Its thickness varies greatly, reaching 746 m in Teguldet borehole. Fauna A fragmentary wing metatarsal nearly identical to the pterosaur ''Lonchognathosaurus'' is also known. See also * List of pterosaur-bearing stratigraphic units This is a list of stratigraphic units, where pterosaur fossils have been recovered from. Units listed are all either formation rank or higher (e.g. group). See also * Pterosaur * List of fossil sites References Further reading * Ext ... References {{Refli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Confuciusornithiformes
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] |
Longipterygids
Longipterygidae is a family of early enantiornithean avialans from the Early Cretaceous epoch of China. All known specimens come from the Jiufotang Formation and Yixian Formation, dating to the early Aptian age, 125-120 million years ago. Description Longipterygids are characterized by an extremely long, toothed snout (making up over 60% of the total skull length), in which the teeth are restricted to the tips of the jaws. The snouts were straight but slightly concave at a point behind the nostrils, and the bones of the snout tip were solid. Their pygostyles, the series of fused vertebrae in the tail, were unusually large, and longer than the foot bones. The feet of longipterygids were also specialized relative to other enantiornitheans. Where most enantiornitheans had a long middle toe with a "knuckle" (trochlea) that extended beyond the outer two, the toes of longipterygids were even in length, and attached to the rest of the foot at the same level. This configuration is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evgeny Kurochkin
Yevgeny Nikolayevich Kurochkin (Евгений Николаевич Курочкин; 12 July 1940 - 13 December 2011) was a Russian paleornithologist at the Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. He served as President of the Menzbier Ornithological Society. He graduated from the Moscow State University in 1964. Most of his field work was done in Central Asia, Mongolia, Cuba, and Vietnam. In 1982, Kurochkin described '' Ambiortus'', which he thought to be the oldest ornithurine (modern-type bird). Kurochkin named the new species after his peer Georgi Petrovich Dementyev (1898-1969). In 2011, Kurochkin and Gareth J. Dyke described ''Eostrix tsaganica'' found in Mongolia, the first find of this primitive owl in Asia. Opposing the theropod origin of modern birds, Kurochkin maintained that archosaurs and dinosaurs were two distinct lineages. He repeatedly questioned the assumption that Archaeopteryx and Enantiornithes were early birds. According to Kurochkin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Confuciusornithids
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 digestiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Longipterygidae
Longipterygidae is a family of early enantiornithean avialans from the Early Cretaceous epoch of China. All known specimens come from the Jiufotang Formation and Yixian Formation, dating to the early Aptian age, 125-120 million years ago. Description Longipterygids are characterized by an extremely long, toothed snout (making up over 60% of the total skull length), in which the teeth are restricted to the tips of the jaws. The snouts were straight but slightly concave at a point behind the nostrils, and the bones of the snout tip were solid. Their pygostyles, the series of fused vertebrae in the tail, were unusually large, and longer than the foot bones. The feet of longipterygids were also specialized relative to other enantiornitheans. Where most enantiornitheans had a long middle toe with a "knuckle" (trochlea) that extended beyond the outer two, the toes of longipterygids were even in length, and attached to the rest of the foot at the same level. This configuration is also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enantiornithes
The Enantiornithes, also known as enantiornithines or enantiornitheans in literature, are a group of extinct avialans ("birds" in the broad sense), the most abundant and diverse group known from the Mesozoic era. Almost all retained teeth and clawed fingers on each wing, but otherwise looked much like modern birds externally. Over eighty species of Enantiornithes have been named, but some names represent only single bones, so it is likely that not all are valid. The Enantiornithes became extinct at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, along with Hesperornithes and all other non-avian dinosaurs. Discovery and naming The first Enantiornithes to be discovered were incorrectly referred to modern bird groups. For example, the first known species of Enantiornithes, ''Gobipteryx minuta'', was originally considered a paleognath related to ostriches and tinamou. The Enantiornithes were first recognized as a distinct lineage, or "subclass" of birds, by Cyril A. Walker in 1981. Walker mad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Type Specimen
In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the defining features of that particular taxon. In older usage (pre-1900 in botany), a type was a taxon rather than a specimen. A taxon is a scientifically named grouping of organisms with other like organisms, a set (mathematics), set that includes some organisms and excludes others, based on a detailed published description (for example a species description) and on the provision of type material, which is usually available to scientists for examination in a major museum research collection, or similar institution. Type specimen According to a precise set of rules laid down in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) and the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN), the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 descendants, nor does it show how much they have changed, so many differing evolutionary trees can be consistent with the same cladogram. A cladogram uses lines that branch off in different directions ending at a clade, a group of organisms with a last common ancestor. There are many shapes of cladograms but they all have lines that branch off from other lines. The lines can be traced back to where they branch off. These branching off points represent a hypothetical ancestor (not an actual entity) which can be inferred to exhibit the traits shared among the terminal taxa above it. This hypothetical ancestor might then provide clues about the order of evolution of various features, adaptation, and other evolutionary narratives about ance ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vorona
''Vorona'' ( ; Malagasy for "bird", ''V. berivotrensis'', "from Berivotra") is a monotypic genus of prehistoric birds. It was described from fossils found in a Maevarano Formation quarry near the village of Berivotra, Mahajanga Province, Madagascar. The age of the fossilised specimen is Late Cretaceous, probably Maastrichtian (72.1-66.0 mya). ''V. berivotrensis'' is known from scattered remains, possibly from a single individual ( UA 8651 and FMNH PA715). The phylogenic affinity of ''Vorona'' is hard to determine due to the fragmentary nature of the remains, mainly because the fossil shows a mix of basal avian features as well as some that seem very derived. ''Vorona'' might be a primitive ornithuromorph. At least two studies recovered it as part of Enantiornithes, however. ''Vorona'' is sometimes confused with the dromaeosaur ''Rahonavis ostromi'', a fossil of which was found in the same location. This confusion has led to the common misconception that ''Vorona'' had a dei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jehol Biota
The Jehol Biota includes all the living organisms – the ecosystem – of northeastern China between 133 and 120 million years ago. This is the Lower Cretaceous ecosystem which left fossils in the Yixian Formation and Jiufotang Formation. These deposits are composed of layers of tephra and sediment. It is also believed to have left fossils in the Sinuiju series of North Korea.Li, Quanguo, Gao, Ke-qin (2007). "Lower Cretaceous vertebrate fauna from the Sinuiju basin, North Korea as evidence of geographic extension of the Jehol Biota into the Korean Peninsula". ''Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology'' 27, supplement to number (3). pp.106A. The ecosystem in the Lower Cretaceous was dominated by wetlands and numerous lakes (not rivers, deltas, or marine habitats). Rainfall was seasonal, alternating between semiarid and Mesic habitat, mesic conditions. The climate was temperate. The Jehol ecosystem was interrupted periodically by ash eruptions from volcanoes to the west. The word "Jehol" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Siberia
Western Siberia or West Siberia (russian: Западная Сибирь, Zapadnaya Sibir'; kk, Батыс Сібір) is a part of the larger region of Siberia that is mostly located in the Russian Federation. It lies between the Ural region and the Yenisei River, which conventionally divides Siberia into two halves. Western Siberia covers an area of , nearly 80% of which is located within the West Siberian Plain. The largest rivers of the region are the Irtysh and the Ob. The West Siberian petroleum basin is the largest hydrocarbon (petroleum and natural gas) basin in the world covering an area of about 2.2 million km2, and is also the largest oil and gas producing region in Russia. In medieval times, the region was part of the Golden Horde. After its gradual decline during the 15th century, the Khanate of Sibir, centered on Tyumen, was formed within the area. In the late 16th century, most of Western Siberia was conquered by the Russian Empire, while its southern region be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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