Hongshanornithidae
| Hongshanornithids | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Clade: | Avialae |
| Clade: | Ornithuromorpha |
| Family: | †Hongshanornithidae Chiappe , 2010
|
| Type species | |
| † Hongshanornis longicresta Zhou & Zhang, 2005
| |
| Genera | |
Hongshanornithidae is an extinct group of early
Description
Hongshanornithids were small, approximately the size of modern phoebes. Their legs are proportionally long in comparison to the wings, suggesting that they were aquatic wading birds. They most likely lacked beaks and had teeth in their jaws.[3]
Classification
Hongshanornithidae was defined as a node-based clade including the last common ancestor of Hongshanornis longicresta and Longicrusavis houi plus all its descendants.[3]
Beginning in 2012, several studies began to find that the hongshanornithids were more closely related to songlingornithids (yanornithiformes) than to other early birds, making them part of the same clade.[5][6]