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Limenavis

Say it: lim-en-AY-vis

Name means: “bird of the threshold or limit bird”1

Ate: MeatEarly birdsLate Cretaceous

Limenavis was a bird that lived near the end of the age of dinosaurs, about 70 million years ago. It was one of the closest relatives of all modern birds that scientists have ever found in the fossil record.1

Lived

72 to 66 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Salitral Moreno, 20 km south of General Roca, Río Negro, Argentina1

Food

Meat2

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Limenavis is known only from a few broken wing bones, but these bones show it was more advanced than older birds like Ichthyornis.3

Its name means 'bird of the threshold' because it lived right at the doorstep of modern birds.1

Scientists have debated whether Limenavis was closer to modern birds or to more primitive ones, and different studies have placed it in different groups.1

Some scientists think Limenavis might be related to the ancestors of tinamous or rheas, which are birds that still live in South America today.1

Limenavis lived in what is now Patagonia, Argentina, during the Late Cretaceous period, about 70 million years ago.1

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

?Was Limenavis a dinosaur?

Yes, Limenavis is a genus of ornithuran dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous. It is one of the closest relatives of modern birds.1

?How big was Limenavis?

Nobody knows for sure. Only a few broken wing bones have been found, so scientists cannot estimate its full size.1

?When did Limenavis live?

Limenavis lived about 70 million years ago, near the end of the Cretaceous period.1

?Where was Limenavis found?

Its fossils were found in Patagonia, Argentina, at a site called Salitral Moreno, about 20 km south of General Roca.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Limenavis
Named by: Clarke and Chiappe 20014
Group: Early birds
Family / clade: Ornithurae4
Classification: Theropoda > Avialae4
Age of the rocks: 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)4
Rock formations: Allen4
Countries: Argentina4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Limenavis was named by Julia Clarke and Luis Chiappe in 2001, based on wing bones found in the Allen Formation of Argentina.3 1
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether Limenavis was closer to modern birds or to more primitive birds like Ichthyornis.1

Where the facts come from

Limenavis (en.wikipedia.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
A new carinate bird from the late Cretaceous of Patagonia (Argentina). American Museum novitates ; no. 3323 (digitallibrary.amnh.org)
Limenavis 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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