Juehuaornis

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Juehuaornis
Temporal range: Aptian, 122.1  Ma
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Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: Avialae
Clade: Ornithuromorpha
Genus: Juehuaornis
Wang et al., 2015
Type species
Juehuaornis zhangi
Wang et al., 2015
Synonyms

Juehuaornis is an extinct genus of ornithuromorph dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous of present-day China. It contains a single species, J. zhangi. [1]

Discovery and naming

The holotype, SJG 00001, was found near Lingyuan in a layer of the Jiufotang Formation dating from the Aptian. It consists of an almost complete and associated skeleton with skull, compressed on a plate. It preserves feather remains. The counterplate was designated as the paratype with inventory number SJG 00001A. [1]

In 2015 the type species Juehuaornis zhangi was named and described by Wang Ren-fe, Wang Yan and Hu Dongyu. The generic name combines a reference to the island of Juehua, the " Chrysanthemum Island" off the coast of Liaoning, with a Greek ὄρνις, ornis, "bird". The specific name honours curator Zhang Dayong. [1]

Description

Juehuaornis has a long beak which reaches 70% of the total skull length. [1]

Classification

Juehuaornis was placed in the Ornithuromorpha in 2015. [1] In 2016 it was suggested that Juehuaornis might be cogeneric to the closely related genera Changzuiornis and Dingavis found in the same formation, in which case Juehuaornis would have priority. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Yanornis</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Yanornis is an extinct genus of fish-eating Early Cretaceous birds. Two species have been described, both from Liaoning province, China: Yanornis martini, based on several fossils found in the 120-million-year-old Jiufotang Formation at Chaoyang, and Yanornis guozhangi, from the 124-million-year-old Yixian Formation.

The Xiagou Formation is the middle strata of the Xinminbao Group. It is named for its type site in Xiagou, in the Changma Basin of Gansu Province, northwestern China and is considered Early Cretaceous in age. It is known outside the specialized world of Chinese geology as the site of a Lagerstätte in which the fossils were preserved of Gansus yumenensis, the earliest true modern bird.

<i>Archaeorhynchus</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Archaeorhynchus is a genus of beaked avialan stem-birds from the early Cretaceous period. A fossil of its only known species, Archaeorhynchus spathula, was first reported in 2005 by Zhou & Zhang to have been found in Yixian Formation rocks at Yixian, Liaoning province, China, showing a well-preserved and essentially complete skeleton. Two more complete specimens were found in Lower Cretaceous deposits of Jianchang, Liaoning, northeastern China, preserving new anatomical information. These deposits are 120 million years old, whereas the original specimen was 125 million years old, meaning the age range for this species is 125-120Ma.

Songlingornis is an extinct genus of ornithuromorph dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous. Its fossils have been found in the Jiufotang Formation of Liaoning (PRC). The age of these rocks is somewhat disputed, but probably around the early Aptian, 125-120 million years ago. Only one species, Songlingornis linghensis, is known at present.

The Jiufotang Formation is an Early Cretaceous geological formation in Chaoyang, Liaoning which has yielded fossils of feathered dinosaurs, primitive birds, pterosaurs, and other organisms. It is a member of the Jehol group. The exact age of the Jiufotang has been debated for years, with estimates ranging from the Late Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous. New uranium-lead dates reveal the formation is deposited in the Aptian stage of the Early Cretaceous. Fossils of Microraptor and Jeholornis are from the Jiufotang.

<i>Shanweiniao</i> Extinct genus of birds

Shanweiniao is a genus of long-snouted enantiornithean birds from Early Cretaceous China. One species is known, Shanweiniao cooperorum. There is one known fossil, a slab and counterslab. The fossil is in the collection of the Dalian Natural History Museum, and has accession number DNHM D1878/1 and DNHM1878/2. It was collected from the Lower Cretaceous Dawangzhengzi Beds, middle Yixian Formation, from Lingyuan in the Liaoning Province, China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paleobiota of the Yixian Formation</span> Geological formation in China

The Yixian Formation is a geological formation in Jinzhou, Liaoning, People's Republic of China, that spans about 1.6 million years during the early Cretaceous period. It is known for its fossils, listed below.

Longicrusavis is an extinct genus of basal ornithuromorph bird found only at Dawangzhangzi village in Liaoning Province, China. Longicrusavis was a ground dwelling carnivore, a wader, and part of biological family Hongshanornithidae, considered to have been a dominant species in the Jehol Biota, the prehistoric Chinese ecosystem which supported them. The name Hongshanornithidae represents one of China's oldest recorded cultures in the region, the Hongshan culture.

Hongshanornithidae is an extinct group of early ornithuromorph birds from the early Cretaceous period of China. It includes the genera Hongshanornis and Tianyuornis from the Yixian Formation of Inner Mongolia, Longicrusavis from the Yixian Formation of Liaoning Province, Parahongshanornis from the Jiufotang Formation of Liaoning Province, and Archaeornithura, the oldest known member, from the Huajiying Formation of Hebei Province.

<i>Rapaxavis</i> Extinct genus of birds

Rapaxavis a genus of enantiornithine bird. It has been found in the Jiufotang Formation in Liaoning, People's Republic of China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Longipterygidae</span> Extinct family of dinosaurs

Longipterygidae is a family of early enantiornithean avialans from the Early Cretaceous epoch of China. All known specimens come from the Jiufotang Formation and Yixian Formation, dating to the early Aptian age, 125-120 million years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euornithes</span> Clade of dinosaurs

Euornithes is a natural group which includes the most recent common ancestor of all avialans closer to modern birds than to Sinornis.

<i>Jiuquanornis</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Jiuquanornis is an extinct genus of basal ornithuromorph dinosaur known from the Early Cretaceous Xiagou Formation of Changma Basin, Gansu Province of northwestern China. Jiuquanornis was first named by Ya-Ming Wang, Jingmai K. O'Connor, Da-Qing Li and Hai-Lu You in 2013 and the type species is Jiuquanornis niui.

<i>Chuanqilong</i> Extinct genus of dinosaurs

Chuanqilong is a monospecific genus of basal ankylosaurid dinosaur from the Liaoning Province, China that lived during the Early Cretaceous in what is now the Jiufotang Formation. The type and only species, Chuanqilong chaoyangensis, is known from a nearly complete skeleton with a skull of a juvenile individual. It was described in 2014 by Fenglu Han, Wenjie Zheng, Dongyu Hu, Xing Xu, and Paul M. Barrett. Chuanqilong shows many similarities with Liaoningosaurus and may represent a later ontogenetic stage of the taxon.

<i>Archaeornithura</i> Extinct genus of birds

Archaeornithura is an extinct genus of ornithuromorphs from the early Cretaceous period. It is known from two fossil specimens of a single species, Archaeornithura meemannae. The specimens have been dated to the Hauterivian age, 130.7 million years ago, making A. meemannae the oldest known ornithuromorph, the lineage that gave rise to modern birds, and contains all living birds as well as many of their extinct relatives.

Changzuiornis is an extinct genus of ornithuromorph bird from the Early Cretaceous of present-day China. It contains a single species, C. ahgmi.

Dingavis is an extinct genus of ornithuromorph dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous of present-day China. It contains a single species, D. longimaxilla.

Meemannavis is a genus of ornithuromorph dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian) Xiagou Formation of Gansu Province, China. The genus contains a single species, Meemannavis ductrix, known from a partial skeleton including an incomplete skull and cervical and thoracic vertebrae. The lower jaw and tip of the upper jaw of the Meemannavis holotype are toothless, but it may have had teeth nearer the back of the upper jaw.

Brevidentavis is a genus of ornithuromorph dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous (Aptian) Xiagou Formation of Gansu Province, China. The genus contains a single species, Brevidentavis zhangi, known from a specimen including a partial skull and cervical vertebrae. The Brevidentavis holotype shows unusually blunt teeth in its lower jaw, which the describing authors suggest may indicate a specialized diet. Its dentition shows similarities with those of hesperornitheans, and indeed it may be an early member of that group.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Wang, R.-F.; Wang, Y.; Hu, 2015, D.-Y. "Discovery of a new ornithuromorph genus, Juehuaornis gen. nov. from Lower Cretaceous of western Liaoning, China". Global Geology. 2015 (1): 7–11. doi:10.3969/j.issn.1004-5589.2015.01.002.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. Huang, J.; Wang, X.; Hu, Y.; Liu, J.; Peteya, J.A.; Clarke, J.A. (2016). "A new ornithurine from the Early Cretaceous of China sheds light on the evolution of early ecological and cranial diversity in birds". PeerJ. 4: e1765. doi: 10.7717/peerj.1765 . PMC   4806634 . PMID   27019777.