Parapengornis eurycaudatus Parapengornis
"Etymology TBD"
- Length
- 5 m (16.4 ft)
- Period
- Early Cretaceous (120 Mya)
- Place
- China
- Food
- Herbivore
- Clade
- Pengornithidae
Parapengornis is an extinct genus of enantiornithean bird from the Lower Cretaceous of what is now China. The holotype specimen was discovered in the Jiufotang Formation near Lingyuan, western Liaoning province, and was catalogued as IVPP V18687. The nearly complete, articulated specimen is preserved on a slab and has impressions of pennaceous feathers. Only parts of the sternum, the left hand, and right foot are missing. In 2015, it became the basis of the new genus and species Parapengornis eurycaudatus, named by the Chinese palaeontologists Han Hu, Jingmai K. O’Connor, and Zhonghe Zhou. The generic name consists of the Latin word para and the name of the related genus Pengornis, indicating their close relationship. The name Pengornis is itself derived from “Peng”, a mythological bird from Chinese folklore, and ornis, which means bird in Greek.
What we know
- Named by Hu et al., 2015.
- Fossils found in China.