''Shenqiornis'' is a bird genus of the

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 cla ...

.Wang, X., J. O'Connor, B. Zhao, L.M. Chiappe, C. Gao and X. Cheng. (2010) New species of Enantiornithes (Aves: Ornithothoraces) from the Qiaotou Formation in Northern Hebei, China. ''Acta Geologica Sinica'', 84(2):247-256. It was found in the Qiaotou Member of the Huajiying Formation of Hebei Province,

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 ...

, and is therefore of uncertain age. The Qiaotou Member may correlate with the more well-known

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 ...

Yixian Formation, and so probably is dated to the

Aptian The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous Epoch or Series and encompasses the time from 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma to 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ago), a ...

, around 122 million years ago.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. The type species ''Shenqiornis mengi'' was in 2010 named and described by Wang Xuri,

Jingmai O'Connor Jingmai Kathleen O'Connor (; born August 26, 1983) is a paleontologist who works as a curator at the Field Museum. Biography O'Connor is from Pasadena, California. Her mother is a geologist. O'Connor says that while she was not a dinosaur enthu ...

, Zhao Bo, Luis María Chiappe, Gao Chunling and Cheng Xiaodong. The generic name combines a reference to Shenzhou 7 with a Greek ''ornis'', "bird". The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

honours Meng Qingjin, the former director of the Dalian Natural History Museum. The holotype is DNHM D2950-2951, a plate and counterplate containing a largely complete skeleton of a subaldult.

References

Enantiornitheans Early Cretaceous birds of Asia Fossil taxa described in 2010 {{paleo-bird-stub