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Longipteryx
''Longipteryx'' is a genus of prehistoric bird which lived during the Early Cretaceous (Aptian stage, 120.3 million years ago). It contains a single species, ''Longipteryx chaoyangensis''. Its remains have been recovered from the Jiufotang Formation at Chaoyang in Liaoning Province, China. Apart from the holotype IVPP V 12325 - a fine and nearly complete skeleton — another entire skeleton (IPPV V 12552) and some isolated bones (a humerus and furcula, specimens IPPV V 12553, and an ulna, IPPV V 12554) are known to date. The name ''Longipteryx'' means "one with long feathers", from Latin ''longus'', "long" + Ancient Greek ''pteryx'' (πτέρυξ), "wing", "feather" or "pinion". The specific name ''chaoyangensis'' is from the Latin for "from Chaoyang". Description Excluding the tail, ''Longipteryx'' was some 15 cm long overall in life. It had a long bill — longer than the rest of the head — with a few hooked teeth at the tip, and, as the name implies ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Longipteryx Restoration
''Longipteryx'' is a genus of prehistoric bird which lived during the Early Cretaceous (Aptian stage, 120.3 million years ago). It contains a single species, ''Longipteryx chaoyangensis''. Its remains have been recovered from the Jiufotang Formation at Chaoyang in Liaoning Province, China. Apart from the holotype IVPP V 12325 - a fine and nearly complete skeleton — another entire skeleton (IPPV V 12552) and some isolated bones (a humerus and furcula, specimens IPPV V 12553, and an ulna, IPPV V 12554) are known to date. The name ''Longipteryx'' means "one with long feathers", from Latin ''longus'', "long" + Ancient Greek ''pteryx'' (πτέρυξ), "wing", "feather" or "pinion". The specific name ''chaoyangensis'' is from the Latin for "from Chaoyang". Description Excluding the tail, ''Longipteryx'' was some 15 cm long overall in life. It had a long bill — longer than the rest of the head — with a few hooked teeth at the tip, and, as the name implies ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jiufotang Formation
The Jiufotang Formation (Chinese: 九佛堂组, pinyin: ''jiǔfótáng zǔ'') is an Early Cretaceous geological formation in Chaoyang, Liaoning which has yielded fossils of feathered dinosaurs, primitive birds, pterosaurs, and other organisms (see Jehol Biota). It is a member of the Jehol group. The exact age of the Jiufotang has been debated for years, with estimates ranging from the Late Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous. New uranium-lead dates reveal the formation is deposited in the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous. Fossils of ''Microraptor'' and ''Jeholornis'' are from the Jiufotang. Fossil content Choristoderans Fish Mammaliamorphs Several mammaliamorph specimens have been found from the Jiufotang, but only two have been formally described and named. Ornithischians Pterosaurs Saurischians A large titanosaur is present in the formation. Enantiornithines Euornithines Misc theropods See also * Yixian Formation * List of dinosaur-bearing rock for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chaoyang, Liaoning
Chaoyang () is a prefecture-level city in western Liaoning province, People's Republic of China. With a vast land area of almost , it is by area the largest prefecture-level city in Liaoning, and borders on Hebei province and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the west. The area under Chaoyang's jurisdictional control is split up into two counties (Jianping, Chaoyang), two urban districts (Longcheng, Shuangta), two county-level cities (Beipiao, Lingyuan), and the Harqin Left Wing Mongolian Autonomous County. The total regional population is 3 million, while the urban centre where the government office is located has a population of 430,000 and forms the core of Chaoyang. Known as China's 'fossil city', many important paleontological discoveries have been made in Chaoyang, and the Harqin region is the oldest currently known prehistoric site in northern China. Two of the most remarkable Early Cretaceous birds known to date were recovered in the vicinity of the Jiufotang Form ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Camptodontornis
''Camptodontornis'' is an extinct genus of enantiornithine bird which existed in what is now Chaoyang in Liaoning Province, China during the early Cretaceous period (Aptian age). It is known from a well-preserved skeleton including a skull found in the Jiufotang Formation of Liaoning Province. Its original generic name was "Camptodontus" (meaning "bent tooth"); it was named by Li Li, En-pu Gong, Li-dong Zhang, Ya-jun Yang and Lian-hai Hou in 2010. However, the name had previously been used for a genus of beetle (Dejean, 1826).Dejean, (1826). Spec. gén. Coléopt., 2, 476. The type species is "Camptodontus" ''yangi''. Demirjian (2019) coined a replacement generic name ''Camptodontornis''. The status of ''C. yangi'' as a distinct species is disputed, with Wang ''et al.'' (2015) considering it to be a probable synonym of ''Longipteryx ''Longipteryx'' is a genus of prehistoric bird which lived during the Early Cretaceous (Aptian stage, 120.3 million years ago). It contains a sing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shanweiniao
''Shanweiniao'' is a genus of long-snouted enantiornithean birds from Early Cretaceous China. One species is known, ''Shanweiniao cooperorum''. There is one known fossil, a slab and counterslab. The fossil is in the collection of the Dalian Natural History Museum, and has accession number DNHM D1878/1 and DNHM1878/2. It was collected from the Lower Cretaceous Dawangzhengzi Beds, middle Yixian Formation, from Lingyuan in the Liaoning Province, China. O'Connor et al. (2010) found that ''Shanweiniao'' is a close relative of ''Longipteryx'', ''Longirostravis'', and ''Rapaxavis'', which together form a clade of long-beaked enantiornithean birds, the Longipterygidae. The genus name ''Shanweiniao'' () means "fan-tailed bird" in Chinese. The authors report that ''Shanweiniao'' is the only known enantiornithean bird with a tail surface capable of generating lift, as in modern birds. They also report that only one other Mesozoic bird, '' Yixianornis grabaui'', which is a basal ornithur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Uncinate Processes Of Ribs
The uncinate processes of the ribs are extensions of bone that project caudally from the vertical segment of each rib. (Uncinate means ''hooked'' from Latin ''uncinatus'', from ''uncinus'', barb, from ''uncus'', hook.) They are found in birds (except for screamers), reptiles, and the early amphibian ''Ichthyostega''. These processes can serve to attach scapula muscles, and help to strengthen the rib cage overlapping with the rib behind them. They are also shown to have a role in respiration by increasing the effectiveness of muscles involved in inspiration including the appendicocostal muscles. The processes are short in walking birds and long in diving species and are of intermediate length in non-specialist birds. The screamers ( Anhimidae) are unique in lacking this process. The process has also been noted in some enantiornitheans.Fucheng, Zhang, Zhou Zhoghe, Hou Lianhai & Gu Gang 2001. Early diversification of birds: Evidence from a new opposite bird. Chinese Science Bulletin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crustacean
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can be treated as a subphylum under the clade Mandibulata. It is now well accepted that the hexapods emerged deep in the Crustacean group, with the completed group referred to as Pancrustacea. Some crustaceans (Remipedia, Cephalocarida, Branchiopoda) are more closely related to insects and the other hexapods than they are to certain other crustaceans. The 67,000 described species range in size from '' Stygotantulus stocki'' at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span of up to and a mass of . Like other arthropods, crustaceans have an exoskeleton, which they moult to grow. They are distinguished from other groups of arthropods, such as insects, myriapods and chelicerates, by the possession of biramous (two-parted) limbs, and by th ... [...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] |
Rectrices
Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tail are called rectrices (), singular rectrix (). The primary function of the flight feathers is to aid in the generation of both thrust and lift, thereby enabling flight. The flight feathers of some birds have evolved to perform additional functions, generally associated with territorial displays, courtship rituals or feeding methods. In some species, these feathers have developed into long showy plumes used in visual courtship displays, while in others they create a sound during display flights. Tiny serrations on the leading edge of their remiges help owls to fly silently (and therefore hunt more successfully), while the extra-stiff rectrices of woodpeckers help them to brace against tree trunks as they hammer on them. Even flightless birds ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Specific Name (zoology)
In zoological nomenclature, the specific name (also specific epithet or species epithet) is the second part (the second name) within the scientific name of a species (a binomen). The first part of the name of a species is the name of the genus or the generic name. The rules and regulations governing the giving of a new species name are explained in the article species description. For example, the scientific name for humans is ''Homo sapiens'', which is the species name, consisting of two names: ''Homo'' is the " generic name" (the name of the genus) and ''sapiens'' is the "specific name". Historically, ''specific name'' referred to the combination of what are now called the generic and specific names. Carl Linnaeus, who formalized binomial nomenclature, made explicit distinctions between specific, generic, and trivial names. The generic name was that of the genus, the first in the binomial, the trivial name was the second name in the binomial, and the specific the proper term for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Down (feather)
The down of birds is a layer of fine feathers found under the tougher exterior feathers. Very young birds are clad only in down. Powder down is a specialized type of down found only in a few groups of birds. Down is a fine thermal insulator and padding, used in goods such as jackets, bedding (duvets and featherbeds), pillows and sleeping bags. The discovery of feathers trapped in ancient amber suggests that some species of dinosaur may have possessed down-like feathers. Description and etymology The word ''down'' comes from the Old Norse word ''dúnn'', which had the same meaning as its modern equivalent. The down feather is considered to be the most "straightforward" of all feather types. It has a short or vestigial rachis (shaft), few barbs, and barbules that lack hooks. There are three types of down: natal down, body down and powder down. Natal down is the layer of down feathers that cover most birds at some point in their early development. Precocial nestlings are alread ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wing Covert
A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are small feathers behind the bird's eye which cover the ear opening (the ear of a bird has no external features) Tail coverts The uppertail and undertail coverts cover the base of the tail feathers above and below. Sometimes these coverts are more specialised. The "tail" of a peacock is made of very elongated uppertail coverts. Wing coverts The upperwing coverts fall into two groups: those on the inner wing, which overlay the secondary flight feathers, known as the secondary coverts, and those on the outerwing, which overlay the primary flight feathers, the primary coverts. Within each group, the feathers form a number of rows. The feathers of the outermost, largest, row are termed greater (primary-/secondary-) coverts; those in the next row ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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