Dino card No. 0421 of 2,027

Chupkaornis

Say it: chup-KA-orn-is

Name means: “eastern bird”1

Ate: MeatEarly birdsLate Cretaceous

Chupkaornis was a flightless diving bird that lived in the sea around Japan. It had sharp teeth and used its strong legs to swim underwater and catch fish.2

Lived

90 to 84 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Hokkaido, Japan3 1

Food

Meat3 2

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Chupkaornis is the oldest known hesperornithiform bird from Asia, living about 89 to 83 million years ago.2

Its name comes from the Ainu word 'chupka' meaning 'eastern', because it was found in East Asia, unlike its relative Hesperornis which means 'western bird'.1

Chupkaornis could not fly. Its wings were tiny, and it used its strong legs and feet to push itself through the water.2

The only known fossil of Chupkaornis includes nine bones: neck vertebrae, back vertebrae, part of the thigh bone, and part of the shin bone.1

It was discovered in 1996 by two amateur fossil collectors, Masatoshi and Yasuji Kera, and was named after them.1

Chupkaornis had special joints in its backbone that allowed it to bend its neck and body while diving.2

AI-made picture of Chupkaornis — An AI-made picture of how Chupkaornis 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.

you asked

Most asked questions about Chupkaornis

?How big was Chupkaornis?

Chupkaornis was about 70 to 80 centimetres (2.3 to 2.6 feet) long, roughly the size of a small penguin.1

?Could Chupkaornis fly?

No, Chupkaornis could not fly. It had very small wings and used its strong legs and webbed feet to swim underwater.1 2

?What did Chupkaornis eat?

Chupkaornis was a predatory diving bird that likely caught fish underwater with its sharp teeth.2

?When did Chupkaornis live?

Chupkaornis lived during the Late Cretaceous, about 89 to 83 million years ago.1

Ask Rex about Chupkaornis

Rex only answers questions about this page. 3 questions a day.

Rex is an AI and can make mistakes. He runs on servers in the EU and questions are never saved. Never type your name or other personal things.

For dino experts

Scientific name: Chupkaornis
Named by: Tanaka et al. 20184
Group: Early birds
Family / clade: Hesperornithiformes4
Classification: Theropoda > Avialae4
Age of the rocks: 90 to 84 million years (Coniacian / Santonian)4
Rock formations: Kashima4
Countries: Japan4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Chupkaornis was discovered in August 1996 by Masatoshi and Yasuji Kera in Hokkaido, Japan. It was named and described by Tomonori Tanaka and colleagues in 2018.1 3
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how large Chupkaornis was, because only a few bones have been found.1

Where the facts come from

Chupkaornis (en.wikipedia.org)
The oldest Asian hesperornithiform from the Upper Cretaceous of Japan, and the phylogenetic reassessment of Hesperornithiformes (perot-m.imgix.net)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Chupkaornis 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.

Rex is hungry! Dino Wiki is a dad's project for his dino-loving son, free with no ads. Grown-ups can feed Rex a snack to help keep it online.Feed Rex