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Pterygornis

Say it: ter-ee-GOR-nis
Name means: “wing bird”1
Ate: MeatEarly birdsEarly Cretaceous

Pterygornis was a tiny, sparrow-sized bird that lived during the time of the dinosaurs. It could move its upper beak separately from its skull, just like modern birds do when they eat. This little flyer was an early experiment in bird skull design!2

Lived
121 to 113 million years ago4
Early Cretaceous
Fossils found in
Liaoning Province, China32
Food
Meat3
Length
0.1 to 0.2 m2
about the size of a sparrow

When did it live?

Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

Pterygornis about 0.2 m longA house cat about 0.5 mA dog about 1 mA bicycle about 1.8 m

How big was Pterygornis compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Pterygornis belonged to a group called Enantiornithes, which were the most common birds during the Age of Dinosaurs.2

2

Its fossils were found in the Jiufotang Formation in China, a famous site that has preserved many early birds.32

3

Unlike older birds, Pterygornis had a special skull that could move its upper jaw up and down, helping it grab food more easily.2

4

The name Pterygornis means 'wing bird' in Latin and Greek.1

5

Pterygornis lived about 121 to 113 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous period.3

6

Its skeleton was found disarticulated, meaning the bones were scattered, but some skull bones were perfectly preserved.2

AI-madeAI-made picture of Pterygornis
An AI-made picture of how Pterygornis 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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Scientific name
Pterygornis
Named by
Wang et al. 20144
Group
Early birds
Family / clade
Enantiornithes4
Classification
Theropoda > Avialae4
Age of the rocks
121 to 113 million years (Aptian)4
Rock formations
Jiufotang4
Countries
China4
Fossil records
1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery
Pterygornis was named by Wang Min and colleagues in 2014, based on fossils found near Dapingfang Town in Liaoning, China. The species name P. dapingfangensis comes from that town.12
Still debated
Scientists are still studying exactly how Pterygornis's skull movement worked, because its bones are so small and delicate.2

Where the facts come from

  1. Pterygornis (en.wikipedia.org)
  2. New enantiornithine bird reveals the refinement for cranial kinesis occurring early in avian evolution (phys.org)
  3. PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
  4. Pterygornis 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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More from the same group: Early birds

ArchaeopteryxEarly birdsHesperornisEarly birdsIchthyornisEarly birdsBaptornisEarly birdsJurapteryxEarly birdsGobipteryxEarly birds

Also from the same time: Early Cretaceous

StegosaurusPlated dinosIguanodonBeaked plant-eatersGiganotosaurusMeat-eating dinosMicroraptorRaptorsDeinonychusRaptorsBaryonyxSpinosaurs
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