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Cratoavis

Say it: KRAH-toh-AY-vis

Name means: “Crato bird”1

Ate: FishEarly birdsEarly Cretaceous

Cratoavis was a small bird that lived about 117 million years ago in what is now Brazil. It had feathers on its wings and body, and it ate fish for dinner!1 2

Lived

120 to 113 million years ago4

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Pedra Branca Quarry, Crato Formation, Ceará, Brazil4 1

Food

Fish2

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Cratoavis is one of the earliest known fossil birds from South America, living about 117 million years ago.2

Its fossil includes feathers attached to the wings and around the body, showing what it looked like.1

Fish bones from at least two small fish called Dastilbe crandalli were found inside the bird's digestive tract.2

This is the first direct evidence of what any Mesozoic bird from the Southern Hemisphere ate.2

Cratoavis had a short beak, but it still caught and ate fish.2

AI-made picture of Cratoavis — An AI-made picture of how Cratoavis 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 Cratoavis

?How big was Cratoavis?

It was a very small bird, about the size of a sparrow. The fossil shows it had a short beak and long tail feathers.1 3

?What did Cratoavis eat?

It ate fish. Fish bones from at least two small fish called Dastilbe crandalli were found inside its digestive tract.2 1

?Did Cratoavis have feathers?

Yes, its fossil has feathers attached to the wings and around the body, including two very long tail feathers.1 3

?When did Cratoavis live?

It lived about 117 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous period.1 3

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Cratoavis
Named by: Carvalho et al. 20154
Group: Early birds
Family / clade: Euenantiornithes4
Classification: Theropoda > Avialae4
Age of the rocks: 120 to 113 million years (Aptian)4
Rock formations: Crato4
Countries: Brazil4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Cratoavis was named in 2015 by Carvalho and colleagues. The fossil was found in the Crato Formation in Brazil.4 1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly how big Cratoavis was, because only one fossil has been found.1

Where the facts come from

Cratoavis (en.wikipedia.org)
Evidence of piscivorous diet in an enantiornithine bird from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil (igeo.ufrj.br)
Brasil - A new genus and species of enantiornithine bird from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil A new genus and species of enantiornithine bird from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil (scielo.br)
Cratoavis 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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