Dalingheornis liweii
- Length
- 5 m (16.4 ft)
- Period
- Early Cretaceous (122 Mya)
- Place
- China
- Food
- Herbivore
- Clade
- Dinosauria The clade containing all dinosaurs, terrestrial archosaurs with upright limbs.
Dalingheornis is a genus of enantiornithean birds which lived during the early Cretaceous period, about 122 Ma ago, and are known from a single juvenile fossil found in the upper part of the Yixian Formation at Dawangzhangzi, Liaoning province, People’s Republic of China. It is the first known Mesozoic bird with heterodactyl feet specifically adapted for climbing, and was probably among the most arboreal of the enantiornitheans. Unlike its relatives, it had an unusually long (17mm) skeletal tail made up of 20 vertebrae, similar to the tails of dromaeosaurids. However, this may have been a juvenile feature. The fossil was named after Yang Liwei, the first Chinese astronaut in space.
What we know
- Named by Zhang et al., 2006.
- Fossils found in China.
What we guess
The reconstruction notes for Dalingheornis — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.