''Longchengornis'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

enantiornithean 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 ...

birds which lived during the early

Cretaceous Period The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of t ...

, about 120 mya, and is known from a

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

found in the

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 ...

in Liaoning province,

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It contains the single species ''L. sanyanensis'', though some researchers believe this to be a synonym of the similar species '' Cathayornis yandica''.Zhou Z. and Wang Y. (2010). "Vertebrate diversity of the Jehol Biota as compared with other lagerstätten." ''Science China: Earth Sciences'', 53(12): 1894–1907.

Discovery and etymology

The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

''Longchengornis sanyanensis'' was named and described in 1997 by

Hou Lianhai Hou or HOU may refer to: * -hou, a place-name element * Hou (surname) * Hou (currency) (Chinese: ), a unit of currency in Greater China * Hou (Odder Municipality), a town in Denmark * Hou (title) (Chinese: ), a title in ancient China * Denglong (m ...

. The generic name ''Longchengornis'' combines the older name of Chaoyang, Longcheng or "Dragon City", with a Greek ''ornis'', "bird". The specific name refers to the Sanyan, the "Three Yan" as the discovery was made on the former territory of the three Yan kingdoms: the

Former Yan The Former Yan (; 337–370) was a dynastic state ruled by the Xianbei during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China. Initially, Murong Huang and his son Murong Jun claimed the Jin dynasty-created title "Prince of Yan," but subsequently, in 352, ...

, the

Later Yan Yan, known in historiography as the Later Yan (; 384 – 407 or 409) was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Xianbei people, located in modern-day northeast China, during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms. All rulers of the Later Yan declared them ...

and the

Northern Yan Yan, known in historiography as the Northern Yan (; 407 or 409–436), Eastern Yan () or Huanglong (), was a dynastic state of China during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms. Some historians consider Gao Yun, a member of the Goguryeo royal family, to ...

Description

''Longchengornis sanyanensis'' is known from a single, partially articulated fossil skeleton and partial skull.

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 ...

IVPP V10530 indicates an animal with a length of , hip height of , and weight of . ''Longchengornis'' is characterized by a wide humerus (upper arm bone) expanded at the shoulder joint, where there was a unique circular depression in the deltopectoral crest. The species had long, slender legs with large, hooked claws. The upper arm was slightly shorter than the lower arm, and the hand retained at least two claws.

References

Bird genera Early Cretaceous birds of Asia Euenantiornitheans Fossil taxa described in 1997 {{paleo-bird-stub