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Parapengornis Eurycaudatus
''Parapengornis'' is an extinct genus of enantiornithine bird from the Lower Cretaceous of what is now China. The holotype specimen was discovered in the Jiufotang Formation near Lingyuan, western Liaoning province, and was catalogued as IVPP V18687. The nearly complete, articulated specimen is preserved on a slab and has impressions of pennaceous feathers. Only parts of the sternum, the left hand, and right foot are missing. In 2015, it became the basis of the new genus and species ''Parapengornis eurycaudatus'', named by the Chinese palaeontologists Han Hu, Jingmai K. O’Connor, and Zhonghe Zhou. The generic name consists of the Latin word ''para'' and the name of the related genus ''Pengornis'', indicating their close relationship. The name ''Pengornis'' is itself derived from "Peng", a mythological bird from Chinese folklore, and ''ornis'', which means bird in Greek. The specific name is derived from the Latin words ''eury'', meaning broad, and ''caudatus'', meaning tail, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lower Cretaceous
Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is situated about five miles south west of Dursley, eighteen miles southwest of Gloucester and fifteen miles northeast of Bristol. Lower Wick is within the civil ... Gloucestershire, England See also * Nizhny {{Disambiguation ... [...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] |
Early Cretaceous Birds Of Asia
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Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Early Branch, a stream in Missouri * Early County, Georgia Other uses * ''Early'' (Scritti Politti album), 2005 * ''Early'' (A Certain Ratio album), 2002 * Early (name) * Early effect, an effect in transistor physics * Early Records, a record label * the early part of the morning See also * Earley (other) Earley is a town in England. Earley may also refer to: * Earley (surname), a list of people with the surname Earley * Earley (given name), a variant of the given name Earlene * Earley Lake, a lake in Minnesota *Earley parser, an algorithm *Earley ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bird Genera
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the bee hummingbird to the ostrich. There are about ten thousand living species, more than half of which are passerine, or "perching" birds. Birds have whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Wings, which are modified forelimbs, gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have further evolved for swimming. Bi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paradise-flycatchers
The paradise flycatchers (''Terpsiphone'') are a genus of birds in the family Monarchidae. The genus ranges across Africa and Asia, as well as a number of islands. A few species are migratory, but the majority are resident. The most telling characteristic of the genus is the long tail streamers of the males of many species. In addition to the long tails the males and females are sexually dimorphic and have rufous, black and white plumage. Taxonomy and systematics The genus ''Terpsiphone'' was introduced by the German zoologist Constantin Gloger in 1827. The type species was subsequently designated as the Indian paradise flycatcher. The name is from the Ancient Greek ''terpsi '' "delighting in" and ''phonos'' "voice". The genus contains 17 species: *Bedford's paradise flycatcher (''Terpsiphone bedfordi'') *Rufous-vented paradise flycatcher (''Terpsiphone rufocinerea'') *Red-bellied paradise flycatcher (''Terpsiphone rufiventer'') *Annobón paradise flycatcher (''Terpsiphone smi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Woodpeckers
Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. Most species live in forests or woodland habitats, although a few species are known that live in treeless areas, such as rocky hillsides and deserts, and the Gila woodpecker specialises in exploiting cacti. Members of this family are chiefly known for their characteristic behaviour. They mostly forage for insect prey on the trunks and branches of trees, and often communicate by drumming with their beaks, producing a reverberatory sound that can be heard at some distance. Some species vary their diet with fruits, birds' eggs, small animals, tree sap, human scraps, and carrion. They usually nest and roost in holes that they excavate in tree trunks, and their abandoned holes are of importance to other cavity-nesting birds. They sometimes come ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scansorial
Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. The habitats pose numerous mechanical challenges to animals moving through them and lead to a variety of anatomical, behavioral and ecological consequences as well as variations throughout different species.Cartmill, M. (1985). Climbing. In ''Functional Vertebrate Morphology'', eds. M. Hildebrand D. M. Bramble K. F. Liem and D. B. Wake, pp. 73–88. Cambridge: Belknap Press. Furthermore, many of these same principles may be applied to climbing without trees, such as on rock piles or mountains. Some animals are exclusively arboreal in habitat, such as the tree snail. Biomechanics Arboreal habitats pose numerous mechanical challenges to animals moving in them, which have been solved in diverse ways. These challenges include moving on narrow branches, mov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Furcula
The (Latin for "little fork") or wishbone is a forked bone found in most birds and some species of non-avian dinosaurs, and is formed by the fusion of the two pink clavicles. In birds, its primary function is in the strengthening of the thoracic skeleton to withstand the rigors of flight. In birds The furcula works as a strut between a bird's shoulders, and articulates to each of the bird's scapulae. In conjunction with the coracoid and the scapula, it forms a unique structure called the triosseal canal, which houses a strong tendon that connects the supracoracoideus muscles to the humerus. This system is responsible for lifting the wings during the recovery stroke. As the thorax is compressed by the flight muscles during downstroke, the upper ends of the furcula spread apart, expanding by as much as 50% of its resting width, and then contracts. X-ray films of starlings in flight have shown that in addition to strengthening the thorax, the furcula acts like a spring in the pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parapengornis Skull
''Parapengornis'' is an extinct genus of enantiornithine bird from the Lower Cretaceous of what is now China. The holotype specimen was discovered in the Jiufotang Formation near Lingyuan, western Liaoning province, and was catalogued as IVPP V18687. The nearly complete, articulated specimen is preserved on a slab and has impressions of pennaceous feathers. Only parts of the sternum, the left hand, and right foot are missing. In 2015, it became the basis of the new genus and species ''Parapengornis eurycaudatus'', named by the Chinese palaeontologists Han Hu, Jingmai K. O’Connor, and Zhonghe Zhou. The generic name consists of the Latin word ''para'' and the name of the related genus ''Pengornis'', indicating their close relationship. The name ''Pengornis'' is itself derived from "Peng", a mythological bird from Chinese folklore, and ''ornis'', which means bird in Greek. The specific name is derived from the Latin words ''eury'', meaning broad, and ''caudatus'', meaning tail, in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peng (mythology)
Peng () or Dapeng () is a giant bird that transforms from a Kun () giant fish in Chinese mythology. Names The Chinese logograms for ''peng'' and ''kun'' exemplify common radical-phonetic characters. ''Peng'' (鵬) combines the "bird radical" ( 鳥) with a ''peng'' ( 朋 "friend") phonetic, and ''kun'' combines the "fish radical" ( 魚) with a ''kun'' ( 昆 "progeny; insect") phonetic. Both the mythic Chinese ''Peng'' and ''Kun'' names involve word play. ''Peng'' ( 鵬) was anciently a variant Chinese character for ''feng'' ( 鳳) in ''fenghuang'' (鳳凰 "Chinese phoenix" ca. 100 CE ''Shuowen Jiezi''); ''Kun'' 鯤 originally meant "fish roe; fry; spawn" (ca. 200 BCE '' Erya''). Synonyms of Peng include Dapeng (大鵬 "Big Peng", "Great Peng") and Dapengniao (大鵬鳥 "Great Peng Bird"). Dapeng is also a place name for a few places in greater China, most notably in Shenzhen and Taiwan. After recent fossil discoveries in northeast China, Chinese paleontologists used Peng to na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several examples, but explicitly designated as the holotype. Under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), a holotype is one of several kinds of name-bearing types. In the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) and ICZN, the definitions of types are similar in intent but not identical in terminology or underlying concept. For example, the holotype for the butterfly '' Plebejus idas longinus'' is a preserved specimen of that subspecies, held by the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. In botany, an isotype is a duplicate of the holotype, where holotype and isotypes are often pieces from the same individual plant or samples from the same gathering. A holotype is not necessarily "typ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pengornis
''Pengornis'' is the largest known enantiornithine bird from the Early Cretaceous of northeast China. The name derives from "Peng", which refers to a mythological bird from Chinese folklore, and "-ornis", which means bird in Greek. ''Pengornis'' is known from a single adult fossil, described by Zhou et al. in 2008. This holotype is in the collection of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing China. Its accession number is IVPP V15336. It was collected from the Jiufotang Formation, at Dapingfang, Chaoyang, Liaoning China. A second, juvenile specimen was described by Hu, Zhou, and O'Connor in 2014.Hu, H. ''et al''. (2014) A subadult specimen of ''Pengornis'' and character evolution in Enantiornithes. ''Vertebrata PalAsiatica''. 52: 77–97. ''Pengornis'' shows characters of the humeral head, acromion, and anterior cervical vertebrae, that were previously known only in members of the Ornithurae. A phylogenetic analysis by Zhou et al. reduces to ju ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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