Avisaurus
Avisaurus Temporal range:
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Holotype tarsometatarsus | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | Theropoda |
Clade: | Avialae |
Clade: | †Enantiornithes |
Family: | †Avisauridae |
Genus: | †Avisaurus Brett-Surman & Paul, 1985 |
Type species | |
†Avisaurus archibaldi Brett-Surman & Paul, 1985
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Species | |
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Avisaurus (meaning "bird lizard") is a genus of enantiornithine bird from the Late Cretaceous of North America.[1]
Discovery
Avisaurus archibaldi was discovered in the Late Cretaceous
Avisaurus gloriae Varricchio and Chiappe 1995,[3] discovered in the late Campanian Upper Two Medicine Formation of Glacier County, Montana, USA, was renamed Gettyia by Atterholt et al. (2018).[4]
Description
The specimen has a maximum length of 73.9 mm (2.91 in), making it one of the largest known tarsometatarsi of an enantiornithine.[3] RAM 14306, an incomplete coracoid, is bigger than the holotype. It indicates an animal with a length of 72 cm (28 in), hip height of 31.5 cm (12.4 in), and weight of 5.1 kg (11 lb).[5]
Classification
This genus belongs to the
The paper by Brett-Surman and Paul in 1985 explicitly considered the possibility that A. archibaldi was an enantiornithine. The authors described and named UCMP 117600 formally, but they looked at other enantiornithine material, including the "
Further discoveries and further study by Chiappe showed that all of the material belonged to enantiornithine birds, and PVL 4690 was given its own genus Soroavisaurus.[2]
Paleoenvironment
Avisaurus remains fossilized in the
Paleobiology
Inwardly curved claws of the Avisaurus tarsis resemble those of
References
- ^ PaleoBiology Database: Avisaurus, basic info
- ^ a b Chiappe, Luis M. (1992) "Enantiornithine (Aves) Tarsometatarsi and the Avian Affinities of the Late Cretaceous Avisauridae" "Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology" September 3, 1992, Volume 12 no. 3 pp. 344-350
- ^ a b Varricchio, David J., Chiappe, Luis M. (1995) "A New Enantiornithine Bird From the Upper Cretaceous Two medicine Formation of Montana" " Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology" March 14, 1995, Vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 201 - 204
- ^ Atterholt J, Hutchison JH, O’Connor JK. (2018) The most complete enantiornithine from North America and a phylogenetic analysis of the Avisauridae. PeerJ 6:e5910 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5910
- ISBN 9780691190594. Retrieved 29 August 2022.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Chiappe, Luis M. (1993) " Enantiornithine (Aves) Tarsometatarsi from the Cretaceous Lecho Formation of Northwestern Argentina" American Museum Novitates December 27, 1993 Number 3083 pp. 1-2
- ^ Chiappe, Luis M., Calvo, Jorge O. (1994) "Neuquenornis volans, a New Late Cretaceous Bird (Enantiornithes: Avisauridae) from Patagonia, Argentina" "Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology" June 22, 1994 Volume 14 No. 2 pp.230-246.
- ^ Brett-Surman, Michael K., Paul, Gregory S. (1985) "A new family of bird-like dinosaurs linking Laurasia and Gondwanaland." "Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology" 5(2): 133-138.
- ISBN 9780988596504. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
Further reading
- Brett-Surman, Michael K. & Paul, Gregory S. (1985): A new family of bird-like dinosaurs linking Laurasia and Gondwanaland. J. Vertebr. Paleontol. 5(2): 133–138.
- Cambra-Moo, Oscar; Delgado Buscalioni, Ángela; Cubo, Jorge; Castanet, Jacques; Loth, Marie-Madeleine; de Margerie, Emmanuel & de Ricqlès, Armand (2006): Histological observations of Enantiornithine bone (Saurischia, Aves) from the Lower Cretaceous of Las Hoyas (Spain).
- Chiappe, Luis M. (1993): Enantiornithine (Aves) Tarsometatarsi from the Cretaceous Lecho Formation of Northwestern Argentina. American Museum Novitates 3083: 1-27. [English with Spanish abstract] PDF fulltext