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Chiappeavis

Say it: chee-AP-ay-vis

Name means: “Chiappe's bird, after paleontologist Luis Chiappe”1

Ate: MeatEarly birdsEarly Cretaceous

Chiappeavis was a bird that lived in the Early Cretaceous, about 120 million years ago. It had a fan-shaped tail made of long feathers that helped it fly. This bird was about the size of a modern pigeon and lived in what is now northeastern China.2 1

Lived

121 to 113 million years ago3

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Jianchang County, Liaoning Province, northeastern China2 3

Food

Meat3 1

Length

0.25 to 0.3 m1

estimated from skeleton size

Wingspan

0.4 to 0.5 m1

Weight

0.3 kg to 0.5 kg1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 4 bananas

lighter than a house catas heavy as 4 bananas

How big was Chiappeavis compared to YOU?

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

cool stuff

Fun facts

Chiappeavis had a fan-shaped tail made of about ten feathers, with the middle feathers being the longest at about 74 mm.1

It is one of the earliest birds known to have an aerodynamic tail fan, which helped it steer during flight.1

The only fossil of Chiappeavis is a nearly complete skeleton with feather impressions, found in the Jiufotang Formation.2

Chiappeavis belongs to a group of early birds called enantiornithines, which were very common in the Cretaceous.2

Its name honors Dr. Luis Chiappe, a scientist who studied many ancient birds.1

The species name 'magnapremaxillo' means 'large premaxilla', referring to its big upper jaw bone.1

AI-made picture of Chiappeavis — An AI-made picture of how Chiappeavis 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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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Chiappeavis had teeth like other early birds.

Truth: The fossil does not show teeth, and scientists think its beak was toothless, similar to some later birds.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Chiappeavis
Named by: O'Connor et al. 20163
Group: Early birds
Family / clade: Pengornithidae3
Classification: Theropoda > Avialae3
Age of the rocks: 121 to 113 million years (Aptian)3
Rock formations: Jiufotang3
Countries: China3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Chiappeavis was named in 2016 by Jingmai O'Connor and colleagues, based on a fossil found in Jianchang, Liaoning, China.2 3
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly what Chiappeavis ate, because its diet is still being studied from its claws and jaw.1

Where the facts come from

Report An Enantiornithine with a Fan-Shaped Tail, and the Evolution of the Rectricial Complex in Early Birds (sciencedirect.com)
Chiappeavis (en.wikipedia.org)
Chiappeavis in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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