The oldest record of ornithuromorpha from the early cretaceous of China

2015/05/05 by Min Wang, Xiaoting Zheng, Jingmai K. O’Connor +5 · 7 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Environmental Science · #Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology #Ichthyology and Marine Biology #Evolution and Paleontology Studies

paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/ncomms7987

openalex publication_date 2015/05/05 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/02

Abstract

Ornithuromorpha is the most inclusive clade containing extant birds but not the Mesozoic Enantiornithes. The early evolutionary history of this avian clade has been advanced with recent discoveries from Cretaceous deposits, indicating that Ornithuromorpha and Enantiornithes are the two major avian groups in Mesozoic. Here we report on a new ornithuromorph bird, Archaeornithura meemannae gen. et sp. nov., from the second oldest avian-bearing deposits (130.7 Ma) in the world. The new taxon is referable to the Hongshanornithidae and constitutes the oldest record of the Ornithuromorpha. However, A. meemannae shows few primitive features relative to younger hongshanornithids and is deeply nested within the Hongshanornithidae, suggesting that this clade is already well established. The new discovery extends the record of Ornithuromorpha by five to six million years, which in turn pushes back the divergence times of early avian lingeages into the Early Cretaceous.

Citations

• New specimen of Archaeopteryx provides insights into the evolution of pennaceous feathers
• A Basal Dromaeosaurid and Size Evolution Preceding Avian Flight
• A redescription ofChaoyangia beishanensis(Aves) and a comprehensive phylogeny of Mesozoic birds
• Insight into the evolution of avian flight from a new clade of Early Cretaceous ornithurines from China and the morphology of Yixianornis grabaui
• Vertebrate diversity of the Jehol Biota as compared with other lagerstätten
• An Early Cretaceous bird from Spain and its implications for the evolution of avian flight
• TNT, a free program for phylogenetic analysis

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• Bird [wikipedia]