Vorona VƱƏROONUH

"Etymology TBD"

You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Vorona 5 m (16.4 ft) long
3 people holding hands
Length
5 m (16.4 ft)
Period
Late Jurassic (70 Mya)
Place
North America · Madagascar
Food
Herbivore
Clade
Dinosauria

Vorona berivotrensis ( ; Malagasy for “bird”, berivotrensis, “from Berivotra”) is a monotypic genus of prehistoric birds. It was described from fossils found in a Maevarano Formation quarry near the village of Berivotra, Mahajanga Province, Madagascar. The age of the fossilised specimen is Late Cretaceous, probably Maastrichtian (72.1-66.0 mya). V. berivotrensis is known from scattered remains, possibly from a single individual (UA 8651 and FMNH PA715).

The phylogenic affinity of Vorona is hard to determine due to the fragmentary nature of the remains, mainly because the fossil shows a mix of basal avian features as well as some that seem very derived. Vorona might be a primitive ornithuromorph. At least two studies recovered it as part of Enantiornithes, however.

What we know

  • Named by Forster et al., 1996.
  • Fossils found in North America and Madagascar.