Sapeornis
Sapeornis | |
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Fossil specimen, National Museum of Natural Science | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | Theropoda |
Clade: | Avialae |
Clade: | Avebrevicauda |
Family: | †Omnivoropterygidae |
Genus: | †Sapeornis Zhou & Zhang , 2002
|
Species: | †S. chaoyangensis
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Binomial name | |
†Sapeornis chaoyangensis Zhou & Zhang, 2002
| |
Synonyms | |
Genus synonymy
Species synonymy
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Sapeornis is a monotypic genus of
Description
Sapeornis was large for an early avialan, about 30–33 centimetres (0.98–1.08 ft) long in life, excluding the tail feathers.
The hand of Sapeornis was far more derived than that of
The skull has a handful of teeth in the upper jawtip only. Sapeornis had
In absolute number of features shared with modern birds, S. chaoyangensis is about as derived as Confuciusornis. However, the
Comparisons between the
Discovery and history
Sapeornis is known from fossils found in Jiufotang Formation and Yixian Formation rocks in western Liaoning, China. These rocks formed during the late Aptian through early Albian epochs of the Cretaceous period, and are about 125-120 million years old. Several nearly complete skeletons have been found.[6]
The first known specimen (the
In 2008, Yuan named a new specimen related to Sapeornis as Didactylornis jii. Yuan concluded that Didactylornis differed from Sapeornis in the proportions of the foot and number of wing and foot bones.[10] However, the relevant portions of the specimen were badly crushed, and later authors concluded that these differences were based on misinterpretation of the poorly preserved specimen. In a 2010 survey of Chinese avialan fossils, Li and colleagues considered Didactylornis a synonym of Sapeornis chaoyangensis.[11] In a 2012 study, Gao et al. concluded that Didactylornis was indeed a junior synonym of Sapeornis chaoyangensis, as were Shenshiornis and the supposed second species of Sapeornis, S. angustis.[12] Omnivoropteryx is also likely synonymous with Sapeornis.[13]
References
- S2CID 86441777.
- ^ Senter, Phil (2006). "Scapular orientation in theropods and basal birds, and the origin of flapping flight" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 51 (2): 305–313.
- PMID 19816582.
- S2CID 85222311.
- ^ doi:10.1139/E03-011(HTML abstract)
- S2CID 33253407.
- S2CID 1116829.
- ^ doi:10.1139/E03-011
- S2CID 86691693.
- S2CID 84976296.
- S2CID 86195304.
- ^ Holtz, Thomas R. Jr. (2011) Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages, Winter 2010 Appendix.