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Longchengornis

Say it: long-CHENG-orn-iss

Name means: “Dragon City bird”1

Ate: MeatEarly birdsEarly Cretaceous

Longchengornis was a tiny, bird-like dinosaur that lived about 120 million years ago. It had long, slender legs and big, hooked claws, and it probably ate meat like a small hunter.1

Lived

121 to 113 million years ago3

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Liaoning Province, China1 2

Food

Meat2

Length

0.11 m1

Weight

0.02 kg1

Height

0.075 m1

at the hips

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?

at the hips

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 0 bananas

lighter than a house cat

How big was Longchengornis compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Longchengornis is known from just one partial skeleton and skull, called the holotype IVPP V10530.1

It had a wide upper arm bone with a unique circular depression near the shoulder joint.1

Its upper arm was slightly shorter than its lower arm, and its hand still had at least two claws.1

This bird lived during the Early Cretaceous, about 120 million years ago, in what is now China.1

Some scientists think Longchengornis might actually be the same species as another bird called Cathayornis yandica.1 2

It was named after the old name for the city of Chaoyang, which was Longcheng, meaning 'Dragon City'.1

AI-made picture of Longchengornis — An AI-made picture of how Longchengornis 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: Longchengornis
Named by: Hou 19973
Group: Early birds
Family / clade: Cathayornithidae3
Classification: Theropoda > Avialae3
Age of the rocks: 121 to 113 million years (Aptian)3
Rock formations: Jiufotang3
Countries: China3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Longchengornis was named and described by the paleontologist Hou Lianhai in 1997. The fossil was found in the Jiufotang Formation in Liaoning, China.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if Longchengornis is a separate species or if it is actually the same as Cathayornis yandica.1 2

Where the facts come from

Longchengornis (en.wikipedia.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Longchengornis 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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