Eoenantiornis
Eoenantiornis was a small, early bird that lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 125 million years ago. It had teeth and a long bony tail, and its body was covered in feathers. This bird was a meat-eater that probably hunted insects and other small animals.13
When did it live?
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Fun facts
Eoenantiornis is one of the oldest known enantiornithine birds, a group often called 'opposite birds' because their shoulder joints were different from modern birds.1
The only known fossil of Eoenantiornis is a nearly complete skeleton with feather impressions, found in the Yixian Formation in China.12
This bird was not fully grown when it died, so scientists think it was a juvenile.1
Eoenantiornis lived during the Early Cretaceous, about 125 to 120 million years ago, in what is now Liaoning, China.32
The name Eoenantiornis means 'dawn Enantiornis', because scientists thought it was an early relative of the bird Enantiornis.1
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- Scientific name
- Eoenantiornis
- Named by
- Hou et al. 19993
- Group
- Early birds
- Family / clade
- Enantiornithes3
- Classification
- Theropoda > Avialae3
- Age of the rocks
- 126 to 120 million years (Barremian / Aptian)3
- Rock formations
- Yixian3
- Countries
- China3
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Discovery
- Eoenantiornis was named in 1999 by Hou Lianhu, Larry Martin, Zhou Zhonghe, and John Alan Feduccia. The only fossil, a nearly complete skeleton, was found at Heitizigou in Liaoning, China.13
- Still debated
- Scientists are still debating exactly where Eoenantiornis fits in the bird family tree, though it is generally placed among the enantiornithine birds.1
Where the facts come from
- Eoenantiornis (en.wikipedia.org)
- PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
- Eoenantiornis in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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