Soroavisaurus
| Soroavisaurus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Clade: | Avialae |
| Clade: | †Enantiornithes |
| Family: | †Avisauridae |
| Genus: | †Soroavisaurus Chiappe 1993 |
| Species: | †S. australis
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Soroavisaurus australis Chiappe 1993
| |
Soroavisaurus is a
enantiornithean birds related to Avisaurus. It lived during the Late Cretaceous of Argentina. The only known species, S. australis, is known from fossils collected from the Lecho Formation (Maastrichtian age) of Estancia El Brete, in the southern tip of the province of Salta, Argentina. A binominal name of this animal means "Southern sister Avisaur".[1]
Description
The specimens are in the collection of the Fundación-Instituto Miguel Lillo,
phalanges. PVL-4048 was previously described as "Avisaurus sp." (see Avisaurus).[2] PVL-4048, the largest undoubted individual of Soroavisaurus, indicates an animal with a length of 48.6 cm (19.1 in), hip height of 21.1 cm (8.3 in), and weight of 1.55 kg (3.4 lb).[3] PVL-4033, a tibiotarsus, probably belongs to a S. australis is also known, book published in 2019 estimated its length of 80 cm (31 in), hip height of 35 cm (14 in), and weight of 7.25 kg (16.0 lb), making it the largest enantiornithean.[3] However according to Walker and Dyke (2009) which considered PVL-4033 as Martinavis sp., its tibiotarsus length is 85.6 mm (3.37 in),[4] much shorter than that of Lectavis (156 mm (6.1 in) tibiotarsus)[5] which the same book estimated a length of 41 cm (16 in), hip height of 30 cm (12 in), and weight of 1.15 kg (2.5 lb).[3]
Phylogeny
The cladogram below is from Wang et al., 2022:[6]
| Enantiornithes |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| l |
Key to letters:
b = Boluochia
c = Cathayornis
e = Enantiophoenix
f = Houornis
h = Longipteryx
i = Parabohaiornis
j = Pterygornis
l = Vorona
m = Yuanjiawaornis
n = Yungavolucris
Paleobiology
Due to their large size and strong talons, Soroavisaurus could occupy the same ecological niche as extanct
birds of prey, noticing prey from afar on the plains or in water.[1]
References
- ^ ISBN 9780988596504. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
- ^ Chiappe, Luis M. (1993) "Enantiornithine (Aves) Tarsometatarsi from the Cretaceous Lecho Formation of Northwestern Argentina." "American Museum Novitates" December 27, 1993 Number 3083, 27pp.
- ^ ISBN 9780691190594. Retrieved 29 August 2022.)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ISSN 0790-1763.
- ^ Chiappe, Luis M. "Enantiornithine (Aves) tarsometatarsi from the Cretaceous Lecho Formation of northwestern Argentina. American Museum novitates ; no. 3083". Biodiversity Heritage Library. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
- S2CID 247432530.