Confuciusornithidae
| Confuciusornithids Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 131–120 Ma | |
|---|---|
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| Fossil specimen of Confuciusornis sanctus | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Clade: | Pygostylia |
| Family: | †Confuciusornithidae Hou et al., 1995 |
| Type species | |
| Confuciusornis sanctus Hou et al., 1995 | |
| Genera | |
Confuciusornithidae is a family of primitive birds from the early Cretaceous Period of China. It consists of four genera. About half of all the confuciusornithid specimens, including representatives of all species, that have preserved feathers possess a pair of distinctive ribbon-like tail feathers, and possessed both shafted and non-shafted (downy) feathers.[1][2]
Taxonomy
The family Confuciusornithidae was first named by Hou et al. in 1995 to contain the type genus, Confuciusornis, and assigned to the order Confuciusornithiformes within class Aves.[3] The group was given a phylogenetic definition by Chiappe, in 1999, who defined a node-based clade Confuciusornithidae to include only Changchengornis and Confuciusornis.[1] Jinzhouornis was added to the Confuciusornithidae by Hou, Zhou, and Zhang in 2002,[4] and in 2008, Zhang, Zhou and Benton assigned the newly described genus Eoconfuciusornis to the family.[2]
Most confuciusornithids are known from the upper Jehol group, the Yixian Formation and Jiufotang Formation, dating from 125 to 120 million years ago. E. zhengi, however, predated the other confuciusornithids by 6 million years, dating to 131 Ma ago.[5]
- †Order Confuciusornithiformes Hou et al. 1995 [6]
- †Proornis coreae Lim 1993 (nomen nudum)
- †Zhongornis haoae Gao et al. 2008 - confuciusornithid?
- †Confuciusornithidae Hou et al. 1995
- †Changchengornis hengdaoziensis Ji, Chiappe & Ji 1999 (Early Cretaceous)
- †Eoconfuciusornis zhengi Zhang, Zhou & Benton 2008 (Early Cretaceous)
- †Evgenavis nobilis O’Connor, Averianov & Zelenkov 2014
- †Confuciusornis Hou et al. 1995 [Jinzhouornis Hou et al. 2002] (Early Cretaceous)
- †C. sanctus Hou et al. 1995 [Confuciusorins chuonzhous Hou 1997; Confuciusorins meidus Hou 1997 (sic); Confuciusorins suniae Hou 1997; Confuciusorins shuzhi Hou 1997 (sic); Jinzhouornis yixianensis Hou et al. 2002; Jinzhouornis zhangjiyingia Hou et al. 2002]
- †C. dui Hou et al. 1999
- †C. feducciai Zhang et al. 2009
- †C. jianchangensis Li, Wang & Hou 2010
Footnotes
- 1 2 Chiappe, Luis M. et. al (1999)
- 1 2 Zhang, F. -C., Zhou, Z. -H., & Benton, M. J. (2008)
- ↑ Hou, L. et. al (1995)
- ↑ Hou, L. H., Zhou, Z. H., & Zhang, F. C. (2002)
- ↑ O'Connor, J.K., Zhou Z. and Zhang F. (In press). "A reappraisal of Boluochia zhengi (Aves: Enantiornithes) and a discussion of intraclade diversity in the Jehol avifauna, China." Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, (published online before print 16 December 2010). doi:10.1080/14772019.2010.512614
- ↑ Haaramo, Mikko (2007). "Mikko's Phylogeny Archive: Coliiformes– mousebirds". Retrieved 30 December 2015.
References
- Chiappe, Luis M.; Shu-An, Ji; Qiang, Ji; Norell, Mark A. (1999). "Anatomy and systematics of the Confuciusornithidae (Theropoda:Aves) from the Late Mesozoic of northeastern China". Bulletin of the American museum of Natural History. 242: 89.
- Hou, L.; Zhou, Z.; Gu, Y.; Zhang, H. (1995). "Description of Confuciusornis sanctus". Chinese Science Bulletin. 10: 61–63.
- Hou, L. H.; Zhou, Z. H.; Zhang, F. C.; et. al (2002). Mesozoic Birds from Western Liaoning in China. Shenyang, China: Liaoning Science and Technology Publishing House.
- Zhang, F. -C.; Zhou, Z. -H.; Benton, M. J. (2008). "A primitive confuciusornithid bird from China and its implications for early avian flight.". Science in China Series D: Earth Sciences. 51 (5): 625–639. doi:10.1007/s11430-008-0050-3.