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Intiornis

Say it: IN-tee-OR-niss

Name means: “Inti bird, meaning 'Unexpected Sun bird'”1

Ate: MeatEarly birdsLate Cretaceous

Intiornis was a tiny bird that lived about 80 million years ago. It was as small as a sparrow, making it one of the smallest birds of its time. It could probably perch on branches like modern birds do.1 2

Lived

84 to 72 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

North-West Argentina, in the Las Curtiembres Formation (Salta Province)1 2

Food

Meat3

Length

0.15 m1

about 15 cm (5.9 in) body length

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Intiornis was the smallest enantiornithine bird known from South America, about the size of a sparrow.1 2

Its three primary toes were nearly the same length, which is unusual and helps scientists identify it.1

Intiornis had adaptations for perching, meaning it could grip branches with its feet.2

The fossil is a partial hind limb, including a right foot and part of the tibiotarsus.2

Its closest relative was Soroavisaurus, another bird from Argentina.1 2

Intiornis lived during the Campanian age, about 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago.3

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

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Intiornis
Named by: Novas et al. 20104
Group: Early birds
Family / clade: Avisauridae4
Classification: Theropoda > Avialae4
Age of the rocks: 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)4
Rock formations: Las Curtiembres4
Countries: Argentina4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Intiornis was named by Fernando Emilio Novas, Federico Lisandro Agnolín, and Carlos Agustín Scanferla in 2010. The fossil was found in the Las Curtiembres Formation in Argentina.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are still debating whether birds like Intiornis competed with pterosaurs for food and space.2

Where the facts come from

Intiornis (en.wikipedia.org)
Systematic palaeontology (Vertebrate palaeontology) New enantiornithine bird (Aves, Ornithothoraces) from the Late Cretaceous of NW Argentina Un oiseau enantiornithine (Aves, Ornithothoraces) du Crétacé supérieur du Nord-Ouest de l’Argentine (sciencedirect.com)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Intiornis 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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