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Alamitornis

Say it: al-ah-mih-TOR-nis

Name means: “Alamito bird”1

Ate: MeatEarly birdsLate Cretaceous

Alamitornis was a tiny, lightweight bird that lived in what is now Argentina near the end of the age of dinosaurs. It probably ran around on the ground and ate small animals. This little bird is one of the smallest known from the Late Cretaceous period.3 2

Lived

72 to 66 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Los Alamitos Formation, Río Negro Province, Argentina1 3

Food

Meat3

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Alamitornis is known from just a few bones, including a partial upper arm bone and a piece of a thigh bone.2

Its name means 'Alamito bird' after the Los Alamitos Formation where it was found.1

Scientists think Alamitornis might be related to Patagopteryx, another ancient bird that could not fly well.1 2

Alamitornis lived about 70 to 66 million years ago, right before the dinosaurs went extinct.3

The fossils of Alamitornis are very small, with the upper arm bone only about 1 centimeter long.2

AI-made picture of Alamitornis — An AI-made picture of how Alamitornis might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Alamitornis
Named by: Agnolin and Martinelli 20093
Group: Early birds
Family / clade: Ornithothoraces3
Classification: Theropoda > Avialae3
Age of the rocks: 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)3
Rock formations: Los Alamitos3
Countries: Argentina3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Alamitornis was named in 2009 by paleontologists Federico L. Agnolin and Agustín G. Martinelli based on fossils found in the Los Alamitos Formation of Argentina.1 3
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if Alamitornis could fly or if it was a ground-dwelling bird like its relative Patagopteryx.1 2

Where the facts come from

Alamitornis (en.wikipedia.org)
Fossil birds from the Late Cretaceous Los Alamitos Formation, Río Negro Province, Argentina (academia.edu)
Alamitornis in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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