Kompsornis
Name:
Kompsornis
(elegant bird).
Phonetic: Komps-or-nis.
Named By: Xuri Wang, Jiandong Huang, Martin
Kundr�t, Andrea Cau, Xiaoyu Liu, Yang Wang & Shubin Ju
- 2020.
Classification: Chordata, Avialae,
Jeholornithiformes.
Species: K. longicaudus
(type).
Diet: Uncertain.
Size: Holotype roughly about 70 centimetres
long. Possibly larger when fully grown.
Known locations: China - Jiufotang Formation.
Time period: Early Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Almost complete individual,
still articulated and preserved flat on a slab.
Kompsornis
is a genus of jeholornithiforme avialan that lived in Asia during the
early Cretaceous. As a jeholornithiforme, Kompsornis
would have
been similar to the more famous Jeholornis,
though there are still
clear differences between the two genera. Cross sections sampled from
the holotype specimen suggest that the holotype individual of
Kompsornis was at least four years old at the time
of death, yet
still not fully grown. More tellingly though is the observation
that the sternum of this individual Kompsornis was
already fused with a
well-developed keel. This strongly suggests that Kompsornis was a
capable flyer, even more so than many other jeholornithiformes.
Further reading
- A new jeholornithiform exhibits the earliest appearance of the
fused sternum and pelvis in the evolution of avialan dinosaurs. -
Journal of Asian Earth Sciences. in press: Article 104401. -
Xuri Wang, Jiandong Huang, Martin Kundr�t, Andrea Cau, Xiaoyu
Liu, Yang Wang & Shubin Ju - 2020.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Random favourites
 |
 |
 |
 |