#Chiappeavis magnapremaxillo

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Chiappeavis magnapremaxillo

By José Carlos Cortés 

Etymology: Chiappe’s Bird

First Described By: O’Connor et al, 2016

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Enantiornithes, Cathayornithiformes

Status: Extinct

Time and Place: 120 million years ago, in the Aptian age of the Early Cretaceous 

Chiappeavis is known from the Jiufotang Formation of China, specifically in the Shangheshou Beds 

Physical Description: Chiappeavis was an Opposite Bird, ie the group of bird-like dinosaurs that were extremely diverse and widespread during the Cretaceous period. Chiappeavis is known from a nearly complete skeleton, including some feather impressions. It was a fairly large bird, probably around 20 or so centimeters (though this is a very rough estimate). It had a small snout, with small pointed teeth inside of it, and a fairly large head. Its body was long, and it had large wings - good for more powerful flying as opposed to tighter maneuvering in between trees. Interestingly enough, Chiappeavis had a giant tail fan, which was not actually universal among Opposite BIrds as it is in modern birds. It also had fairly thick, strong feet.

Diet: It is probable that Chiappeavis fed mainly on arthropods and other hard invertebrates. 

By Ripley Cook 

Behavior: It is uncertain what the behavior of Chiappeavis was, given that we do not have extensive skeletons of this dinosaur. Still, it probably wouldn’t have flitted about the trees as much as birds with wings better built for maneuvering. The tail fan of Chiappeavis probably would have been extremely useful in sexual display, as well as other forms of communication - especially since it does not appear to have been very good at generating lift during flight (hence it not being widespread in other Opposite Birds). As such, it is more likely than not that Chiappeavis would have been fairly social, living in groups of multiple birds which communicated and recognized each other with feather displays. This, therefore, leads us to yet another likely hypothesis: that it took care of its young, at least to some extent. Beyond that, the behavior of Chiappeavis is a bit of a question - though it may have been able to dig out insects and other grubs with its strong feet, and then bit into the tough exteriors of these animals with its many needle-like teeth.

Ecosystem: The Jiufotang Formation was one of the Jehol Biota ecosystems, aka a group of extremely diverse and lush environments that preserved birdie dinosaurs of the Early Cretaceous with great detail. In that, Chiappeavis is one of many dinosaurs found in this location with extensive feather preservation. TheJiufotang Environment was a dense forest, surrounding an extensive number of lakes, and near volcanically active mountains. Still, it isn’t quite as well known as the earlier Yixian formation, and in fact doesn’t seem to have as many plants preserved to inform the exact environment and temperature. Still, it’s reasonable to suppose it may have also been a temperate ecosystem, like the earlier Yixian Formation, potentially even with snow. 

By Jack Wood 

In this environment, there were an extremely wide variety of animals. There was a decent diversity of fish, quite a few kinds of mammals, and the weird, unclassifiable Choristoderes were represented by Philydrosaurus, Ikechosaurus, and Liaoxisaurus. This ecosystem was lousy with pterosaurs, featuring a variety of Chaoynagopterids - like Chaoyangopterus itself, Eoazhdarcho, Jidapterus, and Shenzhoupterus; Pteranodonts like Guidraco, Ikrandraco, Liaoningopterus, Nurhachius, Liaoxipterus, and Linlongopterus; Tapejarids like “Huaxiapterus”, (probably) Nemicolopterus, and Sinopterus; and the weirdly late-surviving Anurognathid Vesperopterylus.

As for dinosaurs, there were many, and most were bird like! There was of course the Ankylosaur Chuanqilong, and the early Ceratopsian Psittacosaurus; there was also an unnamed titanosaur. There was a Tyrannosauroid, SInotyrannus, the Chickenparrot Similicaudipteryx, the raptor Microraptor, and tons of early Avialans like Confuciusornis, Dalianraptor, Jeholornis, Omnivoropteryx, Sapeornis, Shenshiornis, and Zhongjianornis. There were also “true” birds (ie, the line of dinosaurs that would evolve into those we see today) such as Bellulornis, Piscivoravis, Archaeorhynchus, Chaoyangia, Jianchangornis, Parahongshanornis, Schizooura, Songlingornis, Yanornis, and Yixianornis. However, the most diverse group of dinosaurs were the Opposite Birds, of which Chiappeavis was only one of many. There was Alethoalaornis, Boluochia, Bohaiornis, Cathayornis, Cuspirostrisornis, Dapingfangornis, Eocathayornis, Piscivorenantiornis, Pengornis, Gracilornis, Huoshanornis, Largirostrornis, Longchengornis, Longipteryx, Rapaxavis, Shangyang, Sinornis, and Xiangornis - just to name a few! As such the Jiufotange remains as a rich ecosystem in which to study the evolution of this fantastic group of Cretaceous dinosaurs. 

By Scott Reid 

Other: Chiappeavis is probably not its own thing - it is one of a number of Opposite Birds described without substantial evidence that it was a distinct genus and, indeed, many researchers consider them to be members of other genera. In this case, Chiappeavis is probably the same as Pengornis. Still, until it is officially lumped in, it must be treated as its own genus. It had a lot of similarities to Pengornis, regardless, indicating the two may belong to a larger clade of Opposite Birds. In short, Opposite Bird Phylogeny is kind of a mess, and needs a lot more intensive work than has currently been done.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources Under the Cut 

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[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Chiappeavis magnapremaxillo

By Jack Wood on @thewoodparable

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Name: Chiappeavis magnapremaxillo

Name Meaning: Chiappe Bird

First Described: 2016

Described By: O’Connor et al. 

Classification: Dinosauria, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Enantiornithes

Chiappeavis is an Opposite Bird known from a nearly complete and fully articulated subadult specimen, that not only preserved feathers, but rectrices - the specialized tail feathers not typically found in Opposite Birds, that are widespread in birds today. It was found in the Jiufotang Foramtion of China, living about 120 million years ago, in the Aptian age of the Early Cretaceous. Whether or not it is a distinct genus is fairly dubious and requires further examination, as quite a few of the traits that were used to name a new genus might actually be present in a close relative, Pengornis. Still, the jury is still out on that score, so I am still covering Chiappeavis here. It had a fan-shaped tail structure, unlike most other Enantiornithes - indicating that the evolution of rectrice feathers was a bit more varied in Enantiornithes than previously thought. Having a fan-shaped tail allowed Chiappeavis to increase lift during flight, though it wasn’t specially designed for decreasing drag like modern bird rectrices. Chiappeavis is hypothesized to have been an early derived Enantiornithine, as well, indicating that it may retain many features of the ancestor of Ornithothoraces (the clade containing Enantiornithines and Modern-Bird-Line Mesozoic Birds, the Euornithes). As such, it may represent an important intermediary in the evolution of complex rectrical features that we see today in modern birds. 

Sources:

O’Connor, J. K., X. Wang, X. Zheng, H. Hu, X. Zhang, Z. Hou. 2016. An Enantiornithine with a Fan-Shaped Tail, and the Evolution of the Rectricial Complex in Early Birds. Current Biology 26: 114 - 119. 

https://theropoddatabase.blogspot.com/2016/01/chiappeavis-is-just-another-pengornis.html

Shout out goes to @serpentaire!