Gallornis
| Gallornis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Ornithurae |
| Class: | Aves |
| Genus: | †Gallornis Lambrecht, 1931 |
| Species: | †G. straeleni
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Gallornis straeleni Lambrecht, 1931
| |
Gallornis is a
stages, that is about 140–130 million years ago. The known fossil material consists of a worn partial femur and a fragment of the humerus.[1]
This is a highly significant
Neornithes – the group of birds that exists today. Thus, the Gallornis fossils suggest that as early as about 130 million years ago or more the ancestors of all living birds might already have been an evolutionary lineage distinct from the closely related Hesperornithes and Ichthyornithes (essentially modern birds retaining some more ancient features like teeth) and the more distantly related Enantiornithes (a group of more primitive toothed birds which were the most successful avians in the Mesozoic
).
Ecology
During the time of Gallornis, its range was located around 30°N, north of the
latitudinal
mountain belt) had not even gotten underway.
Gallornis was a contemporary of many (non-
Stegosaurs were apparently rare (e.g. Regnosaurus northamptoni). Theropods like Concavenator and Baryonyx
may have existed alongside it as well.
Classification
As it is so close to the common origin of all living birds, Gallornis cannot be assigned to any living
neognath.[1]
Though the material is almost beyond recognition, a few features of the femur are still recognizable. In general shape it resembles the
References
- ^ ISBN 0-520-20094-2
- Xenoposeidon proneneukos
- ^ Brodkorb, Pierce (1963): Catalogue of fossil birds. Part 1 (Archaeopterygiformes through Ardeiformes). Bulletin of the Florida State Museum, Biological Sciences 7(4): 179-293. PDF fulltext Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine
