Parapengornis
Parapengornis was a bird that lived in the time of dinosaurs, about 120 million years ago. It had a strong tail and special claws that helped it climb trees like a woodpecker. This little bird was a meat-eater and caught insects and other small prey.2
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Fun facts
Parapengornis had a very broad and short tail bone (pygostyle) that was wider than it was long, which is unusual for early birds.2
Its tail bone looked like that of modern woodpeckers, so scientists think Parapengornis could climb up tree trunks and cling to bark.2
This bird had long, slender teeth that were constricted at the base and slightly curved backward, perfect for grabbing slippery prey.2
Parapengornis was one of the largest early Cretaceous enantiornithine birds, about the size of a modern crow.2
The fossil of Parapengornis was found with impressions of its wing and tail feathers, showing it had fully developed flight feathers.2
It lived alongside many other early birds and dinosaurs in the Jehol Biota of China, about 120 million years ago.2
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Parapengornis
- Named by
- Hu et al. 20154
- Group
- Early birds
- Family / clade
- Pengornithidae4
- Classification
- Theropoda > Avialae4
- Age of the rocks
- 126 to 113 million years (Barremian / Aptian)4
- Rock formations
- Yixian, Jiufotang4
- Countries
- China4
- Fossil records
- 2 in the Paleobiology Database4
- Discovery
- Parapengornis was named in 2015 by Chinese paleontologists Han Hu, Jingmai O'Connor, and Zhonghe Zhou, based on a nearly complete skeleton found near Lingyuan, Liaoning, China.21
- Still debated
- Scientists are still debating whether the long, stiff tail feathers of Parapengornis were used for display or to help it balance while climbing trees.2
Where the facts come from
- Parapengornis (en.wikipedia.org)
- A New Species of Pengornithidae (Aves: Enantiornithes) from the Lower Cretaceous of China Suggests a Specialized Scansorial Habitat Previously Unknown in Early Birds | PLOS One (journals.plos.org)
- A New Species of Pengornithidae (Aves: Enantiornithes) from the Lower Cretaceous of China Suggests a Specialized Scansorial Habitat Previously Unknown in Early Birds (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- Parapengornis in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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