Imparavis
Imparavis was a tiny, toothless bird that lived about 120 million years ago in what is now China. It was one of the first of its kind to lose its teeth, and it had strong wings that might have let it flap really fast, like a modern quail or puffin.2
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Fun facts
Imparavis is the earliest known toothless bird from a group called enantiornithines, or 'opposite birds'. Scientists used to think toothlessness in this group appeared only about 72 million years ago, but Imparavis pushes that back by 48 to 50 million years.2
Its name means 'odd bird' in Latin, and it was named after the famous naturalist Sir David Attenborough.1
Imparavis had a large bony crest on its upper arm bone where muscles attached. This might have let it flap its wings with extra power, similar to modern birds like puffins or quails.2
The fossil was found by an amateur collector and donated to the Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature in China.2
Imparavis lived alongside many other early birds and dinosaurs in the Early Cretaceous period, about 120 million years ago.13
Unlike most other enantiornithines, which lived mainly in trees, Imparavis might have spent time on the ground foraging for food, like a modern robin.2
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Myth buster
Myth: All early birds had teeth.
Truth: Imparavis shows that some early birds, like enantiornithines, lost their teeth much earlier than scientists thought. It was toothless about 120 million years ago.2
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Imparavis
- Named by
- Wang et al. 20244
- Group
- Early birds
- Family / clade
- Enantiornithes4
- Classification
- Theropoda > Avialae4
- Age of the rocks
- 121 to 120 million years (Aptian)4
- Rock formations
- Jiufotang4
- Countries
- China4
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
- Discovery
- Imparavis was named in 2024 by Wang and colleagues. The fossil was found by an amateur collector near Toudaoyingzi village in China and later studied by scientists at the Field Museum and Shandong Tianyu Museum.12
- Still debated
- Scientists are still debating why Imparavis lost its teeth and what it ate, since its toothless beak and lack of a gizzard make its diet unclear.2
Where the facts come from
- Imparavis (en.wikipedia.org)
- Fossil named “Attenborough’s strange bird” was the first of its kind without teeth - Field Museum (fieldmuseum.org)
- PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
- Imparavis in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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