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Castignovolucris

Say it: kas-TIG-no-vo-LOO-kris

Name means: “Castigno valley bird”1

Ate: MeatEarly birdsLate Cretaceous

Castignovolucris was a big, ancient bird that lived in what is now France, about 74 to 72 million years ago. It was one of the largest enantiornithine birds ever found, maybe as big as a Canada goose. It had strong wings and could fly.2 1

Lived

84 to 66 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Villespassans, Hérault, southern France3 1

Food

Meat3

Length

0.75 to 1.1 m1

estimated from wingspan and body proportions

Wingspan

1.27 to 1.85 m1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 2 house cats nose to tailas long as 6 bananas end to end

How big was Castignovolucris compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Castignovolucris is known from just one bone, a right coracoid (a shoulder bone).2

This bird lived on the Ibero-Armorican island, which was a large island in what is now Europe during the Late Cretaceous.1

The fossil was found by a man named Stéphane Sèbe in the 1990s and later donated to the Musée de Cruzy.1

Castignovolucris was one of the largest enantiornithine birds, a group of ancient birds that had teeth and claws on their wings.1

The name Castignovolucris means 'Castigno valley bird' after the place where it was found.1

AI-made picture of Castignovolucris — An AI-made picture of how Castignovolucris 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: Castignovolucris
Named by: Buffetaut et al. 20233
Group: Early birds
Family / clade: Enantiornithes3
Classification: Theropoda > Avialae3
Age of the rocks: 84 to 66 million years (Campanian / Maastrichtian)3
Rock formations: Saint-Chinian3
Countries: France3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Castignovolucris was named and described in 2023 by paleontologists Eric Buffetaut, Delphine Angst, and Haiyan Tong, based on a single shoulder bone found in southern France.1 3
Still debated: Scientists are not sure about the exact size of Castignovolucris because only one bone has been found. The wingspan and length are estimates.1

Where the facts come from

Castignovolucris (en.wikipedia.org)
A new enantiornithine bird from Upper Cretaceous non-marine deposits at Villespassans (Hérault, southern France) - ADS (ui.adsabs.harvard.edu)
Castignovolucris in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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