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Enantiornis

Say it: en-AN-tee-OR-nis

Name means: “opposite bird”4

Ate: MeatEarly birdsLate Cretaceous

Enantiornis was an ancient bird that lived alongside the dinosaurs. It had teeth and claws on its wings, unlike most birds today. It could fly and probably hunted for food on the ground.1

Lived

94 to 66 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Argentina and Uzbekistan4

Food

Meat4

Length

0.1 to 1 m2

adult length estimated from PBDB size class

Weight

6.75 kg3

Height

0.34 m3

hip height

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How tall was it?

hip height

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 1.5 house cats

as long as 2 house cats nose to tailas long as 6 bananas end to endabout as heavy as a house catas heavy as 56 bananas

How big was Enantiornis compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Enantiornis is one of the earliest known birds, living from about 94 to 66 million years ago.4

It had a special shoulder joint that worked differently from modern birds, which is why it is called an 'opposite bird'.1

Fossils of Enantiornis have been found in both South America and Central Asia, showing it lived in warm, wet environments.4

This bird was about the size of a crow, with a wingspan of roughly half a meter.2

Enantiornis had teeth in its beak, which helped it catch and eat prey.1

It lived on the ground and could fly, but probably spent a lot of time walking or running.4

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

?How big was Enantiornis?

About 78.5 cm long, with a wingspan of roughly 1.2 m, and it weighed around 6.75 kg. That is larger than a herring gull or a crow.3

?Did Enantiornis have teeth?

Yes, Enantiornis had teeth in its beak, which helped it catch and eat prey.3

?When did Enantiornis live?

Enantiornis lived during the Late Cretaceous, from about 94 to 66 million years ago.3

?Where were Enantiornis fossils found?

Fossils of Enantiornis have been found in Argentina (South America) and also in Central Asia.3

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Enantiornis
Named by: Walker 19814
Group: Early birds
Family / clade: Euenantiornithes4
Classification: Theropoda > Avialae4
Age of the rocks: 94 to 66 million years (Turonian / Maastrichtian)4
Rock formations: Lecho, Bissekty4
Countries: Argentina, Uzbekistan4
Fossil records: 4 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Enantiornis was named by Cyril Walker in 1981 based on fossils found in Argentina. The first species described was Enantiornis leali.4 2
Still debated: Scientists are still debating exactly how Enantiornis is related to other ancient birds, because its skeleton is different from both modern birds and other extinct groups.4

Where the facts come from

Enantiornis Walker 1981 - Encyclopedia of Life (eol.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Enantiornis (Wikipedia) (Wikipedia)
Enantiornis 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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