Lectavis
| Lectavis | |
|---|---|
| |
| Restoration of Lectavis bretincola predating upon a hermit crab | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Clade: | Avialae |
| Clade: | †Enantiornithes |
| Genus: | †Lectavis Chiappe 1993 |
| Species: | †L. bretincola
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Lectavis bretincola Chiappe 1993
| |
Lectavis is a
. The genus contains a single species, Lectavis bretincola.Etymology
It's naming means "Lecho Formation bird living at El Brete". Lectavis, after
type locality
estancia El Brete + Latin incola, "inhabitant".
Description
The presently only known fossil bones (
PVL-4021-1) are mostly of the left tibiotarsus (lower leg) and tarsometatarsus (upper foot) of a single individual. L. bretincola was a sizeable bird, with a 16-centimetre (6.3 in) tibiotarsus and a tarsometatarsus which if complete must have been nearly 10 centimetres (3.9 in) long (Chiappe 1993). This remains indicate an animal with a length of 41 cm (16 in), hip height of 30 cm (12 in), and weight of 1.15 kg (2.5 lb).[1]
It possesses a
autapomorphically from modern birds, as it covers the upper end of the second, not the third, toe's bones. This structure serves to attach and arrest the posterior cruciate ligament
, which in turn prevents the lower and upper leg from shifting out of position during walking.
Classification
It was a rather advanced species of enantiornithine and possibly quite closely related to Euenantiornithes (Sanz et al. 1995). Its exact relationships, as with most enantiornithine birds, are unresolved however.
Paleoecology
It appears that L. bretincola was a much more terrestrial species than its relative brackish – lakes or small rivers (Chiappe 1993), and it might thus be that the present species represents a case of parallel evolution with waders and similar semi-aquatic forms, or even a running bird similar to an oversized courser, and quite unlike anything living today.
References
- ISBN 9780691190594. Retrieved 29 August 2022.)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
Bibliography
- 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
- Sanz, José L., Chiappe, Luis M. & Buscalioni, Angela D. (1995): The Osteology of Concornis lacustris (Aves: Enantiornithes) from the Lower Cretaceous of Spain and a Reexamination of its Phylogenetic Relationships. American Museum Novitates 3133: 1-23. [English with Spanish abstract] PDF fulltext