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Confuciusornis
Sign in to saveConfuciusornis is a genus of basal crow-sized avialan confuciusornithid theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of the Yixian and Jiufotang Formations of China, dating from 125 to 120 million years ago. Like modern birds, Confuciusornis had a toothless beak, but closer and later relatives of modern birds such as Hesperornis and Ichthyornis were toothed, indicating that the loss of teeth occurred convergently in Confuciusornis and living birds. It was thought to be the oldest known bird to have a beak, though this title now belongs to an earlier relative Eoconfuciusornis. It was name
Wikidata facts
- Parent taxon
- Confuciusornithidae
- Named after
- Confucius
- Image
- Confuciusornis BACKGROUND.JPG
- Length
- 0.25
Show 9 more facts
- end time
- 120000000-
- taxon rank
- genus
- Commons category
- Confuciusornis
- taxon name
- Confuciusornis
- Commons gallery
- Confuciusornis
- start time
- 125000000-
- time period
- Early Cretaceous
- location of discovery
- China
- main food source
- carnivore
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~56 min read
Encyclopedic overview
21 sectionsContents
- History of discovery
- Additional species and synonyms
- Description
- Size
- Distinguishing traits
- Skull
- Postcranial skeleton
- Feathers and soft tissue
- Plumage pattern
- Classification
- Paleobiology
- Flight
- Tail feathers
- Reproduction
- Growth
- Possible medullary bone
- Diet
- Paleoenvironment and paleoecology
- See also
- References
- External links
Confuciusornis is a genus of basal crow-sized avialan confuciusornithid theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of the Yixian and Jiufotang Formations of China, dating from 125 to 120 million years ago. Like modern birds, Confuciusornis had a toothless beak, but closer and later relatives of modern birds such as Hesperornis and Ichthyornis were toothed, indicating that the loss of teeth occurred convergently in Confuciusornis and living birds. It was thought to be the oldest known bird to have a beak, though this title now belongs to an earlier relative Eoconfuciusornis. It was named after the Chinese moral philosopher Confucius (551–479 BC). Confuciusornis is one of the most abundant vertebrates found in the Yixian Formation, and several hundred complete specimens have been found.
==History of discovery== thumb|left|C. sanctus specimen, Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and Science; specimens have been distributed worldwide
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Confuciusornis” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.