Juehuaornis
Juehuaornis is a bird genus, belonging to the Ornithuromorpha, that during the Early Cretaceous lived in the area of present China.[1]
In 2015 the type species Juehuaornis zhangi was named and described by Wang Renfei, Wang Yan en 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]
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 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]
Juehuaornis has a long beak which equals 70% of the total skull length.[1]
Juehuaornis was placed in the Ornithuromorpha in 2015.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Ren-fei Wang, Yan Wang and Dong-Yu Hu, 2015, "Discovery of a new ornithuromorph genus, Juehuaornis gen. nov. from Lower Cretaceous of western Liaoning, China", Global Geology 2015(1): 7–11
- ↑ Jiandong Huang, Xia Wang, Yuanchao Hu, Jia Liu, Jennifer A. Peteya and Julia A. Clarke, 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
