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Piscivoravis

Say it: PIS-kiv-OR-ay-vis

Name means: “fish-eating bird”1

Ate: FishEarly birdsEarly Cretaceous

Piscivoravis was an ancient bird that lived in China about 120 million years ago. It loved to eat fish, and we know this because fish bones were found inside its fossilized stomach and near its beak. This bird could probably fly and lived near lakes.1

Lived

121 to 113 million years ago2

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Liaoning Province, China1

Food

Fish1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Piscivoravis is one of only two early birds from the Jehol Biota that we know for sure ate fish. The other is Yanornis.1

The fossil of Piscivoravis shows fish bones in two places: a small cluster near the beak and a larger cluster in the belly. Scientists think the small cluster might be a pellet that the bird was about to cough up.1

This bird had a broad breastbone that was wider than it was long, which is unusual for early birds.1

Piscivoravis had large, strongly curved claws on its hands, which might have helped it catch fish.1

The name Piscivoravis comes from Latin and means 'fish-eating bird'.1

Piscivoravis lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 120 million years ago, in what is now northeastern China.1

AI-made picture of Piscivoravis — An AI-made picture of how Piscivoravis 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: Piscivoravis
Named by: Zhou et al. 20132
Group: Early birds
Family / clade: Ornithuromorpha2
Classification: Theropoda > Avialae2
Age of the rocks: 121 to 113 million years (Aptian)2
Rock formations: Jiufotang2
Countries: China2
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database2
Discovery: Piscivoravis was named by Zhou and colleagues in 2013 based on a nearly complete skeleton found near Xiaotaizi village in Liaoning, China. The species name 'lii' honors Li Yutong, who prepared many important bird fossils.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if Piscivoravis changed its diet with the seasons, like some other early birds may have done. Only one fossil has been found so far.1

Where the facts come from

A new piscivorous ornithuromorph from the Jehol Biota (ivpp.cas.cn)
Piscivoravis in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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