Schizooura
Schizooura was a small, feathered bird that lived about 120 million years ago. It had a forked tail like a swallow, which was very unusual for its time. This bird could fly and walked on the ground looking for food.12
When did it live?
How fast was it?
Fun facts
Schizooura had a forked tail made of long feathers with a deep notch in the middle, a shape never seen before in any bird from the Mesozoic Era.1
The furcula, or wishbone, was V-shaped and had a short hypocleidium, a feature never before reported in an Early Cretaceous ornithurine bird.1
The deltopectoral crest on its upper arm bone was big and stretched for half the length of the humerus.1
Only one fossil of Schizooura has ever been found, so scientists still have a lot to learn about it.2
It lived in a wooded environment, based on the Jehol Biota where it was discovered.1
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Schizooura
- Named by
- Zhou et al. 20123
- Group
- Early birds
- Family / clade
- Ornithuromorpha3
- 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
- Schizooura was named in 2012 by Zhou Shuang, Zhou Zhonghe, and Jingmai O'Connor based on a well-preserved fossil from the Jiufotang Formation in Liaoning, China.31
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure exactly how Schizooura used its forked tail, because a forked tail is less efficient for flying than a fan-shaped tail but helps with attracting mates.1
Where the facts come from
- A NEW BASAL BEAKED ORNITHURINE BIRD FROM THE LOWER CRETACEOUS OF WESTERN LIAONING, CHINA (vertpala.ac.cn)
- Schizooura (en.wikipedia.org)
- Schizooura in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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