#euornithine

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Trick or Treat!!! 👻

Patagopteryx!

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

So Velociraptor didn't directly evolve into birds - and, as far as we can tell, neither did Microraptor

but both Velociraptor and Microraptor descend from an extremely recent common ancestor that they share with living birds

and, in fact, that common ancestor would have been very "raptor" like, including having a sickle claw

Here's a great illustration of Velociraptor by my friend @mayajadeart

Here's Microraptor by my other friend @artisticthingem

And here's Archaeopteryx by yet a third friend @thewoodparable

anyways now that I'm done bragging about how good my friends are at paleoart, notice the similarities. Archaeopteryx is only one step closer to being a bird (more or less) than those raptors, and doesn't look too different from them

In fact, currently the most parsimonious hypothesis is that the common ancestor of all three (the first "Paravian") was flighted, making Velociraptor secondarily flightless (Microraptor, as far as we know right now, could fly)

Now, here's the bummer: a lot of Paravians (that group of dinos that has raptors, troodontids, anchiornthids, confuciusornithids, Archaeopteryx, Enantiornithines, and Euornithines - aka all living birds plus a bunch of dead birdie things) went extinct in the end-Cretaceous. In fact, only about four species of dinosaur managed to make it through the extinction (we're ignoring Qinornis):

a Palaeognath

a Galliform

an Anseriform

a Neoavian

(possibly more than one per group, but at least four)

these four groups are all in the group called Neornithes, aka "modern birds"

why these four and none of the other small modern-bird-like dinosaurs? well, let's review how the extinction progressed:

asteroid hit

shockwaves

tsunamis

global wildfires

dust blocks out sun

millenia long impact winter

first of all, the asteroid killed everything over 25kg by default. There just wasn't anywhere for larger organisms to hide from the fires or enough food for them to eat.

smaller organisms needed

to have somewhere to hide

the ability to find food that they can access

enough food to continue through the long dark neverending winter

most birdie-dinos at the end of the Cretaceous were tree dwellers, and would have been wiped out en masse during the wildfires

but, Neornithines - at the time - were all associated with fresh water. Fresh water gave them the ability to hide out from the wildfires (and, in fact, fresh water associated or burrowing is par for the course across tetrapods that survived) better than trees could, and also gave them a safe habitat during the winter

but the thing that really separates Neornithes from all other dinosaurs is that they evolved a toothless beak, and lost the gene for enamel. Neornithes are Forever Toothless Dinosaurs

and those powerful, strong beaks were really great at breaking open the kinds of capsules different organisms use to get through apocalyptic events - hard capsules. aka, spores and seeds.

so, Neornithes had a place to hide, were small enough to do so, and could access all those lovely seeds the trees had dropped around them for food during those millenia

tldr no, velociraptor nor microraptor made it through. not even enantiornithines made it through. personally, I would have loved for one of the characters to be a Neornithine, because imagine the ANGST

I find it amusing that Reed is the most worried about the meteor, seeing that he's a velociraptor. While modern birds probably don't actually descend from velociraptors themselves (need to look it up), given the creative liberties the game takes he and Sage may be the most likely to survive if it actually happens.

I like to think that the melodies birds chirp today are actually Worm Drama songs that passed from generation to generation (of musicians) thanks to Reed.

[dinosaurs-dinosaurs-dinosaurs]

Image from Wikipedia, by Joseph C. Boone

E is for Emu! 

The Emu is a modern flightless dinosaur native to Australia. They are primarily herbivores, but also eat insects and other small arthropods for protein. It is the second tallest bird in the world, and they spend their days foraging, preening, and resting! 

[albertonykus]

Updated my size comparison chart of Mesozoic birds with new information from last year. Changes include:

Adding Microenantiornis and Orienantius

Updating the tail feathers of Archaeorhynchus

Giving colors and lobed toes to Iteravis

Full view

[jurassicsunsets]

any idea from which specific dinosaurs modern birds came to be?

Yes. Birds are neornithines, euornithines, ornithothoracens, pygostylians, avebrevicaudans, euavialans, avialans, averaptorans, paravians, pennaraptors, maniraptors, maniraptoriforms, tyrannoraptors, coelurosaurs, avetheropods, orionodens, tetenurans, averostrans, neotheropods, theropods, and saurischians. Their closest non-avialan relatives are dromaeosaurs and troodontids.

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Trick or treat?

Yanornis!

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

ftr the reason these three things are different is cause

there were some neornithines in the mesozoic. not many, but a couple. so they'd be included in mesozoic dinosaurs, but not the other two

the boundary line between classical dinos and classical birds is blurred af. "nonavian" includes velociraptor but not any Enantiornithine or Euornithine from the Mesozoic, not even hesperornithines. but there are many "classical birds" from the mesozoic that are extinct today - most, in fact. so by saying "nonavian" (aka non-avialan), you're not actually describing the extinct dinosaurs of the Mesozoic, only some of them; and drawing an arbitrary line between dinosaurs we knew were birds and dinosaurs we didn't know were birds, which at that point, look about the same

Non-Neornithine doesn't cover every Mesozoic dinosaur, because there are some Neornithines. However, it explicitly includes all dinosaur groups from the Mesozoic that went extinct in the Mesozoic, and no others. This is the closest thing we have to a real dividing line: Neornithine vs Non-Neornithine, or Cenozoic vs Mesozoic.

Is there a word for the extinct dinosaurs (the ones who are not birds)?

bold of you to assume any dinosaurs are not birds

if you want to talk about dinosaurs that were around in the Mesozoic, say Mesozoic Dinosaurs

if you want to talk about "classical" dinosaurs, say Nonavian Dinosaurs

if you want to talk about the dinosaurs that did not make it through to the Cenozoic, say Non-Neornithine Dinosaurs

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Brodavis

B. americanus by Jack Wood

Etymology: Brodkorb’s Bird

First Described By: Martin et al., 2012

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, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Hesperornithes

Referred Species: B. americanus, B. baileyi, B. mongoliensis, B. varneri

Status: Extinct

Time and Place: Between 80 and 66 million years ago, from the Campanian to the Maastrichtian ages of the Late Cretaceous 

Brodavis is known from a variety of habitats, most within the Western Interior Seaway of North America, with one in Asia: the Frenchman Formation, the Hell Creek Formation, the Pierre Shale Formation, and the Nemegt Formation.  

Physical Description: Brodavis was a large bird, but a small dinosaur, reaching up to 90 centimeters in body length (though some species were half that size). It had a cylindrical body and long legs, good for propelling it through the water. It had a lightly built skeleton, though, so it wasn’t well adapted to diving - and may have even still been able to fly, though not particularly well. It had a long, skinny neck, and a small head ending in a long and pointed beak. This beak was full will small, pointy teeth for catching fish. It is unclear whether or not it had webbing between its toes, but this is definitely possible. The colors of Brodavis are poorly known, but it was certainly covered with feathers all over its body.

Diet: Brodavis would have primarily eaten fish and other aquatic life.

Behavior: Being a water-based creature, Brodavis spent most of its time near the water, swimming through along the surface and looking for food. Based on other Hesperornithines, it swam mostly with its feet, propelling them like living animals such as grebes today. Its wings, which were still probably functional, would have not been used in the water. Still, given the presence of flight in Brodavis, it probably would have been able to take off from the water to avoid danger - and back to the water to avoid more danger still, given the large predatory dinosaurs it shared habitats with. It would have then gone to the coasts to rest and rejoin other Brodavis, and would have also had nests there that they had to take care of. How social it was, or other specifics on behavior, are unknown at this time - though it would not be surprising if they lived in large family groups, given how common such behavior is in modern aquatic birds and the fact that it’s a fairly common genus of dinosaur.  

B. varneri By Scott Reid 

Ecosystem: Being known from a wide variety of habitats, it’s nearly impossible to completely describe everything Brodavis ever lived with in one dinosaur article. That being said, Brodavis tended to live along the coast of major waterways (especially in freshwater areas), where it would spend most of its time underwater but go back to the shores to rest, mate, and take care of their young. Since Brodavis was found both in the Western Interior Seaway and the Seaway of Eastern Asia, it probably would have encountered a wide variety of other dinosaurs. In the Canadian Frenchman Formation, for example, it would have encountered the small herbivore Thescelosaurus, the large hadrosaur Edmontosaurus, the horned dinosaurs Triceratops and Torosaurus, the ostrich-like Ornithomimus, and the large predator Tyrannosaurus. In Hell Creek the companions of Brodavis were many, but included other dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus, Ornithomimus, Triceratops, Torosaurus, Edmontosaurus, and Thescelosaurus like the Frenchman Formation - but also ankylosaurs like Denversaurus and Ankylosaurus, pachycephalosaurs like Sphaerotholus and Pachycephalosaurus, the small ceratopsian Leptoceratops, another ostrich-like dinosaur Struthiomimus, the chickenparrot Anzu, the raptor Acheroraptor, the opposite bird Avisaurus, and the modern bird Cimolopteryx - and more! In the Pierre Shale, Brodavis was accompanied by other Hesperornithines like Baptornis and Hesperornis. And, finally, in the Nemegt, Brodavis lived with another Hesperornithine Judinornis, the duck Teviornis, the ankylosaur Tarchia, the hadrosaur Saurolophus, the pachycephalosaurs Prenocephale and Homalocephale, the titanosaur Nemegtosaurus, the tyrannosaurs Alioramus and Tarbosaurus, Duck Satan Himself Deinocheirus, the ostrich-mimics Anserimimus and Gallimimus, the alvarezsaur Mononykus, the therizinosaur Therizinosaurus, the chickenparrots Avimimus, Elmisaurus, Nomingia, and Nemegtomaia; the raptor Adasaurus, and the troodontid Zanabazar. Given this wide variety of habitats and neighbors, Brodavis was probably able to live in freshwater habitats, unlike other hesperornithines, and it was decidedly a very adaptable dinosaur. 

B. baileyi by Scott Reid

Other: Brodavis represents a unique group of Hesperornithines, though it’s possible the genus is overlumped, which would make the family that currently only has Brodavis in it (Brodavidae) actually informative.

Species Differences: These species differ mainly on where they’re from - B. americanus from the Frenchman Formation, B. baileyi from the Hell Creek Formation, B. mongoliensis from the Nemegt, and B. varneri from the Pierre Shale. As such, B. varneri is the oldest of the four, and may be its own genus. It is also the best known species.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources under the Cut 

Aotsuka, K. and Sato, T. (2016). Hesperornithiformes (Aves: Ornithurae) from the Upper Cretaceous Pierre Shale, Southern Manitoba, Canada. Cretaceous Research, (advance online publication).

Bakker, R. T., Sullivan, R. M., Porter, V., Larson, P. and Saulsbury, S. J. (2006). "Dracorex hogwartsia, n. gen., n. sp., a spiked, flat-headed pachycephalosaurid dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation of South Dakota". in Lucas, S. G. and Sullivan, R. M., eds., Late Cretaceous vertebrates from the Western Interior. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 35, pp. 331–345.

Boyd, Clint A.; Brown, Caleb M.; Scheetz, Rodney D.; Clarke; Julia A. (2009). "Taxonomic revision of the basal neornithischian taxa Thescelosaurus and Bugenasaura". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 29 (3): 758–770.

Campione, N.E. and Evans, D.C. (2011). "Cranial Growth and Variation in Edmontosaurs (Dinosauria: Hadrosauridae): Implications for Latest Cretaceous Megaherbivore Diversity in North America." PLoS ONE, 6(9): e25186.

Carpenter, K. (2003). "Vertebrate Biostratigraphy of the Smoky Hill Chalk (Niobrara Formation) and the Sharon Springs Member (Pierre Shale)." High-Resolution Approaches in Stratigraphic Paleontology, 21: 421-437.

Estes, R.; Berberian, P. (1970). "Paleoecology of a late Cretaceous vertebrate community from Montana". Breviora. 343.

Glass, D.J., editor, 1997. Lexicon of Canadian Stratigraphy, vol. 4, Western Canada. Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, Calgary, Alberta, 1423.

Gradzinski, R., J. Kazmierczak, J. Lefeld. 1968. Geographical and geological data form the Polish-Mongolian Palaeontological Expeditions. Palaeontologia Polonica 198: 33 - 82.

Henderson, M.D.; Peterson, J.E. (2006). "An azhdarchid pterosaur cervical vertebra from the Hell Creek Formation (Maastrichtian) of southeastern Montana". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 26 (1): 192–195

Jerzykiewicz, T., D. A. Russell. 1991. Late Mesozoic stratigraphy and vertebrates of the Gobi Basin. Cretaceous Research 12 (4): 345 - 377.

Kielan-Jaworowska, Z., R. Barsbold. 1972. Narrative of the Polish-Mongolian Palaeontological Expeditions 1967-1971. Palaeontologia Polonica 27: 5 - 136.

Lerbekmo, J.F., Sweet, A.R. and St. Louis, R.M. 1987. The relationship between the iridium anomaly and palynofloral events at three Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary localities in western Canada. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 99:25-330.

Longrich, N. (2008). "A new, large ornithomimid from the Cretaceous Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada: Implications for the study of dissociated dinosaur remains". Palaeontology. 54 (1): 983–996.

Longrich, N.R., Tokaryk, T. and Field, D.J. (2011). "Mass extinction of birds at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(37): 15253-15257.

Novacek, M. 1996. Dinosaurs of the Flaming Cliffs. Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc. New York, New York.

Martin, L. D., E. N. Kurochkin, T. T. Tokaryk. 2012. A new evolutionary lineage of diving birds from the Late Cretaceous of North America and Asia. Palaeoworld 21: 59 - 63.

Martyniuk, M. P. 2012. A Field Guide to Mesozoic Birds and other Winged Dinosaurs. Pan Aves; Vernon, New Jersey.

Pearson, D. A.; Schaefer, T.; Johnson, K. R.; Nichols, D. J.; Hunter, J. P. (2002). "Vertebrate Biostratigraphy of the Hell Creek Formation in Southwestern North Dakota and Northwestern South Dakota". In Hartman, John H.; Johnson, Kirk R.; Nichols, Douglas J. (eds.). The Hell Creek Formation and the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in the northern Great Plains: An integrated continental record of the end of the Cretaceous. Geological Society of America. pp. 145–167.

Tokaryk, T. 1986. Ceratopsian dinosaurs from the Frenchman Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Saskatchewan. Canadian Field-Naturalist 100:192–196.

Varricchio, D. J. 2001. Late Cretaceous oviraptorosaur (Theropoda) dinosaurs from Montana. pp. 42–57 in D. H. Tanke and K. Carpenter (eds.), Mesozoic Vertebrate Life. Indiana University Press, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Watabe, M., S. Suzuki, K. Tsogtbaatar, T. Tsubamoto, M. Saneyoshi. 2010. Report of the HMNS-MPC Joint Paleontological Expedition in 2006. Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences Reasearch Bulletin 3:11 - 18.

Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. 861 pages.

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Piscivoravis lii

By Ripley Cook

Etymology: Fish Eating Bird

First Described By: 2013

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Songlingornithidae

Status: Extinct

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

Piscivoravis is known from the Shangheshou Beds of the Jiufotang Formation in Liaoning, China 

Physical Description: Piscivoravis was a fairly large proto-bird, growing between 30 and 35 centimeters long. It had a strong wishbone, which would have allowed for extensive chest muscles, giving it better flight ability than most of its relatives at the time. It had large claws and digits on its feet and hands which would have been very noticeable in the wings - it’s possible it may have used those claws to cling to branches and tree trunks. Piscivoravis was preserved with feathers, which show that it had an alula. Alulas are a group of three to six small, stiff feathers growing off of the first digit in modern birds - not preserved often in Mesozoic birds, scientists have limited themselves to looking for the specialized structure in the first finger that would indicate their presence. However, Piscivoravis doesn’t have that structure - indicating the alula feathers evolved before the structure did. It also had a full fan of tail feathers - a distinctive trait of the birdie dinosaurs that would become birds proper. The feathers were broad and rounded to form a single aerodynamic surface, which would have helped it to fly.

Diet: Piscivoravis was found with fish preserved in its digestive tract, making it one of the few confirmed piscivorous Mesozoic birds.

Behavior: Piscivoravis would spend a lot of its time around the lakes of its environment, grabbing fish out of the water - a unique niche for it that would have helped it to avoid competition with other animals in its very diverse environment. It would have swallowed the food and separated it into digestible parts and non-digestible parts, and formed the latter into a pellet - much like modern hawks and owls do. This was preserved in its stomach, and it would then vomit up the pellet to save energy trying (and failing) to digest it. 

By Scott Reid 

As a strong flier, it’s possible that Piscivoravis would source over the lakes like some shorebirds today, looking for traces of fish and other aquatic sources of food under the surface. We don’t know how well it could see, however, to test if it would be able to spot such prey. It’s possible - since this was a system of lakes surrounded by forest - that Piscivoravis may have peered down at the lakes from trees (held onto with strong claws), then used their strong flight to fly down quickly towards the sources of food.

As a dinosaur, Piscivoravis most likely took care of its young, though it’s difficult to know either way without more fossils. It is uncertain whether or not it would have lived in groups - either possibility, solitary or social life, seems possible.

Ecosystem: Piscivoravis lived in the Jiufotang Formation, the later of the Jehol Biota formations that showcase the initial evolution of a lot of modern groups - especially birds, placental mammals, and flowers. It was a system of lakes, surrounded by a temperate forest. Active volcanoes nearby would explode on occasion, leading to rapid covering and then preservation of the life in the forest. The earlier Yixian Formation is somewhat better known and more diverse than the Jiufotang, but there was still a lot of fascinating creatures in the Jiufotang. Piscivoravis is known from the Shangheshou Bed, aka the second and third members of the formation, where a lot of the more famous animals of the environment are found. The environment was probably still heavily forested, mostly populated with coniferous trees and ferns, but with some burgeoning flowers as well. There was a variety of frogs and fish for Piscivoravis to feed on, though most of the named ones come from other parts of the formation.

Mammals were present in the formation - notably Lactodens and Liaconodon. The oddball, crocodile-esque Choristoderes were represented by Philydrosaurus and Ikechosaurus. Turtles include Perochelys and Liaochelys. There was the famed Jiufotang Lizard Yabeinosaurus as well. There were a lot of pterosaurs, including Sinopterus, Linlongopterus, Liaoxipterus, Chaoyangopterus, Longchengpterus, Eoazhdarcho, Huaxiapterus, Hongshanopterus, Jidapterus, and Shenzhoupterus. And this was just the non-dinosaurs. 

By José Carlos Cortés

Dinosaurs included - well, there were a lot of them. The only Ornithischian known from this member was Psittacosaurus. There were a few non-Avialan theropods, too, such as Sinotyrannus, Microraptor and Similcaudipteryx. Still, the fast majority of dinosaurs present were birdie dinosaurs, which I’m just going to list now: Longipteryx, Confuciusornis, Omnivoropteryx, Sapeornis, Sinornis, Yixianornis, Bohaiornis, Parabohaiornis, Longusunguis, Juehuaornis, Parapengornis, Fortunguavis, Cathayornis, Largirostrornis, Yanornis, Gracilornis, Eocathayornis, Jeholornis, Schizooura, Zhongjianornis, Jianchangornis, Archaeorhynchus, Songlingornis, Chaoyangia, Longchengornis, Boluochia, Houornis, Xiangornis, Huoshanornis, Pengornis, Dapingfangornis, Piscivorenantiornis, Parahongshanornis, Alethoalaornis, Yuanjiawaornis, and Bellulornis. Feel free to dig through the ADAD blog to find out about all of these. Piscivoravis probably would have feared Sinotyrannus the most out of all these members of its environment, in terms of what would eat it.

Other: Piscivoravis was a Songlingornithid, a group of early very-near-birds found in the Aptian age of China. Many other kinds coexisted with Piscivoravis, and surprisingly, a lot of the group of birdie dinosaurs that became birds (the Euornithes) had at least somewhat aquatic lifestyles. So, full beaks in modern birds evolved in water-based environments, though we’re not entirely sure why.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources under the Cut 

Czerkas, S. A., D. Zhang, J. Li and Y. Li. 2002. Flying dromaeosaurs. In S. J. Czerkas (ed.), Feathered Dinosaurs and the Origin of Flight. The Dinosaur Museum Journal 1. The Dinosaur Museum, Blanding, UT 96-126

Czerkas, S. A., and Q. Ji. 2002. A preliminary report on an omnivorous volant bird from northeast China. In S. J. Czerkas (ed.), Feathered Dinosaurs and the Origin of Flight. The Dinosaur Museum Journal 1. The Dinosaur Museum, Blanding, UT 127-135

Dong, Z.-M., Y.-W. Sun, and S.-Y. Wu. 2003. On a new pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of Chaoyang Basin, Western Liaoning, China. Global Geology 22:1-7

Dong, Z., and J. Lü. 2005. A new ctenochasmatid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning Province. Acta Geologica Sinica 79(2):164-167

Dong, L., Y. Wang, and S. E. Evans. 2017. A new lizard (Reptilia: Squamata) from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of China, with a taxonomic revision of Yabeinosaurus. Cretaceous Research

Evans, S. E., and Y. Wang. 2011. A gravid lizard from the Cretaceous of China and the early history of squamate viviparity. Naturwissenschaften 98:739-743

Evans, S. E., and Y. Wang. 2012. New material of the Early Cretaceous lizard Yabeinosaurus from China. Cretaceous Research 34:48-60

Gao, K.-Q., and R. C. Fox. 2005. A new choristodere (Reptilia: Diapsida) from the Lower Cretaceous of western Liaoning Province, CHina, and phylogenetic relationships of Monjurosuchidae. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society of London 145:427-444

Gao, K.-Q., D. T. Ksepka, L. Hou, Y. Duan, and D. Hu. 2007. Cranial morphology of an Early Cretaceous monjurosuchid (Reptilia: Diapsida) from Liaoning Province of China and evolution of the choristoderan palate. Historical Biology 19(3):215-224

Han, G., and J. Meng. 2016. A new spalacolestine mammal from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota and implications for the morphology, phylogeny, and palaeobiology of Laurasian ‘symmetrodontans’. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 178:343-380

Hou, L., and J. Zhang. 1993. [A new fossil bird from Lower Cretaceous of Liaoning]. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 31(3):217-224

Hou, L. H. 1997. Mesozoic Birds of China.

Hu, D., L. Li, L. Hou and X. Xing. 2010. A new sapeornithid bird from China and its implication for early avian evolution. Acta Geologica Sinica 84(3):472-482

Hu, D.-Y., X. Xu, L. Hou and C. Sullivan. 2012. A new enantiornithine bird from the Lower Cretaceous of Western Liaoning, China, and its implications for early avian evolution. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 32(3):639-645

Hu, D., Y. Liu, J. Li, X. Xu, and L. Hou. 2015. Yuanjiawaornis viriosus, gen. et sp. nov., a large enantiornithine bird from the Lower Cretaceous of western Liaoning, China. Cretaceous Research 55:210-219

Hu, H., J. K. O'Connor, and Z. Zhou. 2015. A new species of Pengornithidae (Aves: Enantiornithes) from the Lower Cretaceous of China suggests a specialized scansorial habitat previously unknown in early birds. Plos One 10(6):e0126791

Ji, Q., S.-a. Ji, and L.-j. Zhang. 2009. First large tyrannosauroid theropod from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota in northeastern China. Geological Bulletin of China 28(10):1369-1374

Evans, Q., and Y. Wang. 2011. A gravid lizard from the Cretaceous of China and the early history of squamate viviparity. Naturwissenschaften 98:739-743

Li, J.-J., J.-C. Lü, and B.-K. Zhang. 2003. A new Lower Cretaceous sinopteroid pterosaur from western Liaoning, China. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica 42(3):442-447

Li, L., Y. Duan, D. Hu, L. Wang, S. Cheng and L. Hou. 2006. New Eoenantiornithid Bird from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Western Liaoning, China. Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition) 80(1):38-41

Li, Z., Z. Zhou, M. Wang and J. A. Clarke. 2014. A new specimen of large-bodied basal enantiornithine Bohaiornis from the Early Cretaceous of China and the inference of feeding ecology in Mesozoic birds. Journal of Paleontology 88(1):99-108

Li, L., D.-y. Hu, Y. Duan, E=p Gong, and L.-h. Hou. 2007. Alethoalaornithidae fam. nov.: a new family of enantiornithine bird from the Lower Cretaceous of western Liaoning. Acta Palaeontologica Sinica 46(3):365-372

Li, L., J.-Q. Wang, and S.-L. Hou. 2011. A new ornithurine bird (Hongshanornithidae) from the Jiufotang Formation of Chaoyang, Liaoning, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 49(2):195-200

Li, L., W. G. Joyce, and J. Liu. 2015. The first soft-shelled turtle from the Jehol Biota of China. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 35(2):e909450

Liu, J. 2004. A nearly complete skeleton of Ikechosaurus pijiagouensis sp. nov. (Reptilia: Choristodera) from the Jiufotang Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Liaoning, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 42(2):120-129

Lü, J., and C. Yuan. 2005. New tapejarid pterosaur from western Liaoning, China. Acta Geologica Sinica 79(4):453-458

Lü, J., and Q. Ji. 2005. New azhdarchid pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous of western Liaoning. Acta Geologica Sinica 79(3):301-307

Lü, J., X. Jin, D. M. Unwin, L. Zhao, Y. Azuma and Q. Ji. 2006. A new species of Huaxiapterus (Pterosauria: Pterodactyloidea) from the Lower Cretaceous of western Liaoning, China with comments on the systematics of tapejarid pterosaurs. Acta Geologica Sinica 80(3):315-326

Lü, J., J. Liu, C. Gao, Q. Meng, and Q. Ji. 2006. New material of pterosaur Sinopterus (Reptilia: Pterosauria) from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation, Western Liaoning, China. Acta Geologica Sinica 80(6):783-789

Lü, J., D. M. Unwin, L. Xu and X. Zhang. 2008. A new azhdarchoid pterosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of China and its implications for pterosaur phylogeny and evolution. Naturwissenschften 95:891-897

Martyniuk, M. P. 2012. A Field Guide to Mesozoic Birds and other Winged Dinosaurs. Pan Aves; Vernon, New Jersey.

Meng, J., Y. Wang, and C. Li. 2011. Transitional mammalian middle ear from a new Cretaceous Jehol eutriconodont. Nature 472:181-185

Norell, M. A., Q. Ji, C. Yuan, Y. Zhao, and L. Wang. 2002. 'Modern' feathers on a non-avian dinosaur. Nature 416:36-37

O’Connor, J. K.; Zhang, Y.; Chiappe, L. M.; Meng, Q.; Quanguo, L.; Di, L. 2013. A new enantiornithine from the Yixian Formation with the first recognized avian enamel specialization. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 33(1): 1 - 12.

O'Connor, J. K., C. Sun, X. Xu, X. Wang, and Z. Zhou. 2012. A new species of Jeholornis with complete caudal integument. Historical Biology 24(1):29-41  

Provini, P., Z.-H. Zhou, and F.-C. Zhang. 2009. A new species of the basal bird Sapeornis from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 47(3):194-207

Rodrigues, T., S. Jiang, X. Cheng, X. Wang, and A. W. A. Kellner. 2015. A new toothed pteranodontoid (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) from the Jiufotang Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Aptian) of China and comments on Liaoningopterus gui Wang and Zhou, 2003. Historical Biology 27(6):782-795

Wang, M., J. K. O’Connor, Z. Zhou. 2014. A new robust enantiornithine bird from the lower Cretaceous of China with scansorial adaptations. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Wang, M., and Z. Zhou. 2017. A morphological study of the first known piscivorous enantiornithine bird from the Early Cretaceous of China. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 37(2):e1278702:1-13

Wang, X., and Z. Zhou. 2002. A new pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea, Tapejaridae) from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of western Liaoning, China and its implications for biostratigraphy. Chinese Science Bulletin 47(20):1521-1527

Wang, L., L. Li, Y. Duan and S.-L. Cheng. 2006. A new iodactylid pterosaur from western Liaoning. Geological Bulletin of China 25(6):737-740

Wang, X., D. A. Campos, Z. Zhou and A. W. A. Kellner. 2008. A primitive istiodactylid pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea) from the Jiufotang Formation (Early Cretaceous), northeast China. Zootaxa 1813:1-18

Wang, X., Z. Zhang, C. Gao, L. Hou, Q. Meng and J. Liu. 2010. A new enantiornithine bird from the Early Cretaceous of western Liaoning, China. The Condor 112(3):432-437

Wang, X., B. Zhao, C. Shen, S. Liu, C. Gao, X. Cheng, and F. Zhang. 2015. New material of Longipteryx (Aves: Enantiornithes) from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation of China with the first recognized avian tooth crenulations. Zootaxa 3941(4):565-578

Wang, Y., M. E. H. Jones, and S. E. Evans. 2007. A juvenile anuran from the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation, Liaoning, China. Cretaceous Research 28:235-244

Xu, X., Z. Zhou, X. Wang, X. Kuang, F. Zhang and X. Du. 2003. Four-winged dinosaurs from China. Nature 421:335-340

Zhou, C.-F. 2010. New material of Chaoyangopterus (Pterosauria: Pterodactyloidea) from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of western Liaoning, China. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Abhandlungen 257(3):341-350

Zhang, Z., D. Chen, H. Zhang and L. Hou. 2014. A large enantiornithine bird from the Lower Cretaceous of China and its implication for lung ventilation. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 113:820-827

Zhou, S., Z. -H. Zhou, and J. K. O'Connor. 2012. A new basal beaked ornithurine bid from the Lower Cretaceous of western Liaoning, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 50(1):9-24

Zhou, S.-A., Z. -H. Zhou, and J. K. O'Connor. 2013. Anatomy of the basal ornithuromorph bird Archaeorhynchus spathula from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning, China. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33(1):141-152

Zhou, S., Z. Zhou, J. K. O’Connor. 2013. A new piscivorous ornithuromorph from the Jehol Biota. Historical Biology 26 (5): 608 - 618.

Zhou, Z.-h., F. Jin, and J.-y. Zhang. 1992. [Preliminary report on a Mesozoic bird from Liaoning, China]. Kexue Tongbao 1992(5):435-437

Zhou, Z. 1995. Discovery of a new enantiornithine bird from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 33(2):99-113

Zhou, X., and F. Zhang. 2001. Two new ornithurine birds from the Early Cretaceous of western Liaoning, China. Chinese Science Bulletin 46(15):1258-1264

Zhou, Z. 2002. A new and primitive enantiornithine bird from the Early Cretaceous of China. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 22(1):49-57

Zhou, Z., and F. Zhang. 2002. A long-tailed, seed-eating bird from the Early Cretaceous of China. Nature 418:405-409

Zhou, Z., and F. Zhang. 2002. Largest bird from the Early Cretaceous and its implications for the earliest avian ecological diversification. Naturwissenschaften 89(1):34-38

Zhou, X., and F. Zhang. 2003. Anatomy of the primitive bird Sapeornis chaoyangensis from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning, China. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 40:731-747

Zhou, Z., J. Clarke, F. Zhang and O. Wings. 2004. Gastroliths in Yanornis: an indication of the earliest radical diet-switching and gizzard plasticity in the lineage leading to living birds?. Naturwissenschaften 91(12):571-574

Zhou, Z., J. Clarke, and F. Zhang. 2008. Insight into diversity, body size and morphological evolution from the largest Early Cretaceous enantiornithine bird. Journal of Anatomy 212(5):565-577

Zhou, Z.-H., F. -C. Zhang, and Z. Li. 2009. A new basal ornithurine bird (Jianchangornis microdonta gen. et sp. nov.) from the Lower Cretaceous of China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 10:299-310

Zhou, Z., F. Zhang, and Z. Li. 2010. A new Lower Cretaceous bird from China and tooth reduction in early avian evolution. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 277:219-227

[dinosaurs-dinosaurs-dinosaurs]

Teratornis, by Nobu Tamura, CC BY 3.0

[albertonykus]

Our knowledge of Mesozoic ornithothoracine bird diversity has grown exponentially over the past 20+ years, but most of them rarely feature in paleoart. These are just the ones known from complete enough specimens for my inexperienced hand to restore.

Full view

[albertonykus]

Do you have an opinion on whether Zhongjianornis is a basal pygostylian (as in the Hartman et al. matrix) or a basal euornithine?

Zhongjianornis is tricky, because the only known specimen is poorly preserved (despite being a nearly complete skeleton) and many characters that are potentially phylogenetically informative cannot be assessed for it. Based on what we have, I could see it plausibly falling in either position. Here’s hoping a better-preserved specimen turns up.

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Platanavis nana

By Scott Reid

Etymology: Platan Bird

First Described By: Nesov, 1992

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

Status: Extinct

Time and Place: Between 92 and 90 million years ago, in the Turonian age of the Late Cretaceous 

Platanavis is known from the Bissekty Formation of Uzbekistan 

Physical Description: Platanavis, for better or worse, is only known from a portion of the fused vertebrae above the hip - the synsacrum. As such, we don’t know much about it. We can seem to determine that it was a small proto-bird of some kind, and as such given the time of it being found it was probably not a modern bird (Neornithean). The size was small, and the synsacrum structure indicates that it was probably a short-tailed Avialan - somewhere around the split between Opposite Birds (Enantiornithine) and True Birds (Euornithine). So, what we can glean from that is that Platanavis was small, it was very bird-like, and it probably still had teeth in its mouth. It had a narrow, deep, and not-grooved hip. Beyond that, we cannot be sure.

Diet: Given we know very little of the morphology - especially mouth and teeth shape - of Platanavis, we can’t be sure of its diet; omnivore is probably the most likely thing we can say right now.

Behavior: Well, Platanavis could probably fly in some way, and it probably took care of its young and watched its eggs. Beyond that, we can’t really say much.

Ecosystem: The Bissekty Formation was a very diverse, “middle” Cretaceous seashore ecosystem, filled with brackish swamps and braided rivers along the coast. Unfortunately, the plant life of this environment is not known, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it was filled with horsetails and cycads and ferns, as well as some early flowering plants. It also would have been a very warm environment, being near the equator. 

By Ripley Cook 

This was an ecosystem filled with a variety of animals that were early versions of the iconic creatures of the Latest Cretaceous, especially in the dinosaurs. There was Turanoceratops, a forerunner of Ceratopsids like Triceratops and Styrcosaurus; Levnesovia, an Ornithopod very close to the soon-to-appear Hadrosaurids; Timurlengia, a transitional Tyrannosaur; Itemirus, one of the earliest known Velociraptorines (possibly, anyway); and Caenagnathasia, one of the earliest “advanced” Chickenparrots. There were loads of proto-birds, too, not just Platanavis - the “True Bird” Zhyraornis, and a gaggle of Opposite Birds including Abavornis, Catenoleimus, Explorornis, Incolornis, Kizylkumavis, Kuszholia, Lenesornis, and Sazavis. Troodontids like Urbacodon and Euronychodon were present, as was some sort of ornithomimosaur. There was also the ankylosaur Bissektipelta, and the ornithopods Gilmoreosaurus and Cionodon.

Non-Dinosaurs in the Bissekty included the huge pterosaur Azhdarcho, a variety of fish, a handful of turtles, some amphibians, and some sharks - many of which were adapted to brackish water that would have been common in the environment. There were also a very diverse selection of crocodylomorphs such as Zhyrasuchus, Zholsuchus, Kansajsuchus, and the earlier alligatoroid Tadzhikosuchus. There were also weird extinct relatives of Iguanas. In addition to all of this, there were a lot of early mammals, weird herbivorous Zhelestids and burrowing Asioryctitherians and insectivorous Zalambdalestids and almost-Marsupials and the rodent-like Cimolodonts. More research on this formation is sure to reveal more fascinating finds!

Other: Platanavis has a similar deep synsacrum to Gobipteryx, and given their similar range and Gobipteryx coming later, perhaps they’re closely related. This would make Platanavis an Enantiornithine, though of course that’s a very preliminary idea.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources under the Cut 

Averianov, A.O. 2002. An ankylosaurid (Ornithischia: Ankylosauria) braincase from the Upper Cretaceous Bissekty Formation of Uzbekistan. Bulletin de l'Institute Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, Sciences de la Terre 72. 97–110. Accessed 2019-03-22.

Kurochkin, 2000. Mesozoic birds of Mongolia and the former USSR. in Benton, Shishkin, Unwin and Kurochkin, eds. The Age of Dinosaurs in Russia and Mongolia. 533-559.

Mourer-Chauvire, 1989. Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution Information Newsletter. 3.

Nessov, 1992. Review of localities and remains of Mesozoic and Paleogene birds of the USSR and the description of new findings. Russkii Ornitologicheskii Zhurnal. 1(1), 7-50.

Redman, C.M., and L.R. Leighton. 2009. Multivariate faunal analysis of the Turonian Bissekty Formation: Variation in the degree of marine influence in temporally and spatially averaged fossil assemblages. PALAIOS 24. 18–26. Accessed 2019-03-22.

Sues, H.-D., and A. Averianov. 2009. Turanoceratops tardabilis—the first ceratopsid dinosaur from Asia. Naturwissenschaften 96. 645–652. Accessed 2019-03-22.

Sues, H-D., and A. Averianov. 2016. Ornithomimidae (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Bissekty Formation (Upper Cretaceous: Turonian) of Uzbekistan. Cretaceous Research 57. 90–110. Accessed 2019-03-22.

Weishampel, David B.; Peter Dodson, and Halszka (eds.) Osmólska. 2004. The Dinosauria, 2nd edition, 1–880. Berkeley: University of California Press. Accessed 2019-02-21.ISBN 0-520-24209-2

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Results are in! Some surprises, some disappointments - this is going to be an interesting year, that’s for sure. 

Specific game breakdowns under the cut (okay and encouraged, however, to reblog this) 

Unsurprising, honestly 

This was a squeaker I was not expecting 

I feel like this could have gone either way 

I’m pleased with this

Large predators should win sometimes, probably

Nice

This was an uninspriring matchup

Dammit, I was hoping the Euornithine would pull ahead. Ah well 

Yeaaaaaah! 

Nice, nice 

A good smol bean

This should not have been this close. You guys do realize Ultrasaurus is literally shit, right? 

This is well-deserved 

I really didn’t know which way this would go, either, but here we are 

Yay! Nemegt! 

Yeaaaah! The Silesaurid lives on

Damn, ah well 

Digging boy! 

Poor Olorotitan, so close

This was a Squeaker

This was surprisingly a squeaker 

Wide Boy Lives! 

Could have gone either way, imo

Damn, poor Lurdu, still Miragaia’s a good one 

This is utterly unsurprising 

Huh, this is mildly surprising 

This is also surprising??

This is EXTREMELY surprising if pleasing

Revenge of the Auk fans I suppose

Max will be pleased with this

:( Ah well Turacos are cute too

Yet again, unsurprising

It’ll be interesting to see what happens in Round Two!!! Thanks everyone who voted!!!

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Gargantuavis philoinos

By Jack Wood on @thewoodparable

PLEASE SUPPORT US ON PATREON. EACH and EVERY DONATION helps to keep this blog running! Any amount, even ONE DOLLAR is APPRECIATED! IF YOU ENJOY THIS CONTENT, please CONSIDER DONATING!

Name: Gargantuavis philoinos

Name Meaning: Gargantua Bird

First Described: 1998

Described By: Buffetaut & Le Loeuff

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

Gargantuavis is a large, secondarily flightless Euornithine from the Marnes de la Maurine Formation of France, living about 70 million years ago, in the Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous. It is known from parts of the hips, neck, and legs. It is the largest known Avialan from the Mesozoic, with a body length of about two meters and the height of a man, and it was roughly shaped like a modern moa, with a long neck, a small head, and broad hips. This would have made it a herbivorous browser, and it would have been fairly slow moving. It lived near the Tethys Sea, alongside other dinosaurs such as Rhabdodon, and was a fairly rare member of its ecosystem. 

Sources:

Martyniuk, M. P. 2012. A Field Guide to Mesozoic Birds and other Winged Dinosaurs. Pan Aves; Vernon, New Jersey.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gargantuavis

Shout out goes to @kuzcothegreat-blog!

[albertonykus]

What is Zhyraornis?

To be honest, every time I get a question like this about fragmentary taxa of uncertain affinities, I have to wonder... what makes you think I would know?

Taxa like this are of uncertain phylogenetic position typically because they are only known from fragmentary remains, have an unusual combination of features, or both. When a solid conclusion on their affinities is eventually made, it’s usually due to detailed reexamination of the specimen, the discovery of more complete specimens (either of the taxon itself or of newly-recognized close relatives), or some combination thereof.

I haven’t had the chance to examine most of these specimens in person, so it’s unlikely that I would have much insight that hasn’t already been stated in the literature. I also don’t have magic powers that would allow me to accurately visualize a complete organism solely from fragmentary specimens (though that would be a very useful superpower to have... at least if you’re a paleontologist).

Zhyraornis is known from a couple of partial synsacra that most likely belong to ornithothoracines, with both euornithine and enantiornithine affinities having been suggested in relatively recent literature. That’s about as much as I can comfortably tell you at this point.