Bellulia
Bellulia was an early bird that lived about 120 million years ago in what is now China. It had nearly straight claws on its fingers and a V-shaped wishbone, which helped it fly. Bellulia ate plants and lived near lakes.123
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adult height range from PBDB
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Fun facts
Bellulia had nearly straight claws on its fingers, which is unusual for early birds. Its species name 'rectusunguis' means 'straight claw'.3
This bird had a V-shaped furcula (wishbone) with a short hypocleidium, a feature only seen in one other Cretaceous bird called Schizooura.2
Bellulia lived during the Aptian age, about 121 to 113 million years ago, in the Early Cretaceous period.1
The only known fossil of Bellulia is a nearly complete skeleton, but the skull is missing. It was found in the Jiufotang Formation in Liaoning, China.3
Bellulia was a basal ornithuromorph, meaning it was an early relative of all modern birds. It was more advanced than some other early birds like Archaeorhynchus.2
The fossil of Bellulia includes feather traces, showing it had feathers like modern birds.3
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Bellulia
- Named by
- Wang et al. 20164
- Group
- Early birds
- Family / clade
- Ornithuromorpha4
- Classification
- Theropoda > Avialae4
- Age of the rocks
- 121 to 113 million years (Aptian)4
- Rock formations
- Jiufotang4
- Countries
- China4
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
- Discovery
- Bellulia was named by Wang Min, Zhou Zhonghe, and Zhou Shuang in 2016 based on a nearly complete skeleton found in Jianchang County, Liaoning, China.13
Where the facts come from
- PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
- A new basal ornithuromorph bird (Aves: Ornithothoraces) from the Early Cretaceous of China with implication for morphology of early Ornithuromorpha (exa.ai)
- Bellulia rectusunguis Wang & Zhou & Zhou 2016, SP. NOV. (exa.ai)
- Bellulia in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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