''Vescornis'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

enantiornithine 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 cla ...

bird. One species is named, ''V. hebeiensis''. The

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 ...

fossil is in the collection of the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Its catalog number is CAGS 130722. The fossil was found in

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous ( geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphic name), is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 145 Ma to 100.5 Ma. Geology Pro ...

rocks first attributed to the Yixian Formation, Senjitu, Fengning County, Hebei Province, China. However, later study of area geology showed that these rocks actually belong to the

Huajiying Formation The Huajiying Formation is a geological formation in Hebei, People's Republic of China. Known for its fossils including feathered dinosaurs, the age of the formation is uncertain. It may represent an early portion of the Jehol Biota, dating to som ...

.Jin, F., Zhang, F.C., Li, Z.H., Zhang, J.Y., Li, C. and Zhou, Z.H. (2008). "On the horizon of ''Protopteryx'' and the early vertebrate fossil assemblages of the Jehol Biota." ''Chinese Science Bulletin'', 53(18): 2820-2827. ''Vescornis'' was described in detail by Zhang ''et al.'' in 2004.Zhang, Fucheng., Ericson, Per G.P., Zhou, Zhonghe. (2004) "Description of a new enantiornithine bird from the Early Cretaceous of Hebei, northern China" ''Canadian Journal of Earth Science'' 41: 1097 - 1107

Possible synonyms

The three taxa ''

Jibeinia ''Jibeinia'' is a genus of enantiornithean bird. Only one species has been named, ''Jibeinia luanhera''. It is known from one holotype fossil found in the Hebei province, People's Republic of China. This fossil is now lost.Zhang, Fucheng., Erics ...

'', ''Vescornis'', and "Hebeiornis", may be synonyms. If so, because the name ''Jibeinia'' was published in 1997, it would be the senior synonym and take priority.Hou, Lianhai (1997) "Mesozoic Birds of China" Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing, China. Published by the Phoenix Valley Provincial Aviary of Taiwan. In Chinese, translated by Will Downs, Bilby Research Center, Northern Arizona University, January, 2001. However, there is no consensus over whether or not they are actually synonyms, and some scientists continue to regard them as separate species. When ''Vescornis'' was described in 2004, the authors noted that it was nearly exactly the same size as ''Jibeinia'', and collected from the same locality. They noted several morphological similarities to ''Jibeinia'' but, also, distinct differences in some characters from the written description. They sought to compare the two specimens but learned from Dr. Hou in 2001 that the holotype ''Jibeinia'' had been lost, and existing casts were of too poor a quality to be decisive. Thus they conclude that it will be impossible to verify whether the two are the same species, unless the holotype of ''Jibeinia'' is rediscovered. The name "Hebeiornis" was published in 1999, based on the same specimen as ''Vescornis'' (CAGS 130722). However, the describers (Xu ''et al.'') gave little anatomical detail and few comparisons to other taxa, and later researchers have concluded that this was not an adequate description to establish the new name, and it is now regarded as a ''

nomen nudum In taxonomy, a ''nomen nudum'' ('naked name'; plural ''nomina nuda'') is a designation which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be one, but it has not been published with an adequate descr ...

''.Xu, G.L., Yang, Y.S., Deng, S.Y. (1999) First Discovery of Mesozoic Bird Fossils in Hebei Province and its Significance. Regional Geology of China 18(4):444-448

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7923149 Bird genera Early Cretaceous birds of Asia Euenantiornitheans Fossil taxa described in 2004