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Fun facts
Shanweiniao is the only enantiornithine bird known with a tail that could generate lift, like the tails of modern birds.1
Its name means 'fan-tailed bird' in Chinese, because of its special tail feathers.1
Scientists are not sure if its tail really was a fan. Some think the feathers might have been ornamental, like streamers.2
Shanweiniao had a very strong pygostyle, the bone that supports the tail feathers, even stronger than in other enantiornithines.2
It lived about 122 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous period.1
Only one fossil of Shanweiniao has been found, and it is kept at the Dalian Natural History Museum in China.1
Most asked questions about Shanweiniao
?What did Shanweiniao eat?
Shanweiniao had a long beak, which suggests it may have eaten insects or small animals, but scientists are not sure exactly what it ate.1
?Was Shanweiniao a dinosaur?
Yes, Shanweiniao was a type of bird that belonged to a group called avialan dinosaurs, so it is considered a dinosaur.1
?How big was Shanweiniao?
Shanweiniao was tiny, about the size of a sparrow, but the exact size is not known from the fossil.1
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Myth buster
Myth: Shanweiniao definitely had a fan-shaped tail like modern birds.
Truth: Scientists are not sure. The tail feathers are poorly preserved, and some think they might have been ornamental streamers instead of a lift-generating fan.2
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Shanweiniao
- Named by
- O'Connor et al. 20093
- Group
- Early birds
- Family / clade
- Longipterygidae3
- Classification
- Theropoda > Avialae3
- Age of the rocks
- 126 to 120 million years (Barremian / Aptian)3
- Rock formations
- Yixian3
- Countries
- China3
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Discovery
- Shanweiniao was named in 2009 by Jingmai O'Connor and colleagues. The species name, cooperorum, honors Carl and Lynn Cooper, who helped fund the research.1
- Still debated
- Scientists still debate whether Shanweiniao's tail feathers formed an aerodynamic fan or were just for display.2
Where the facts come from
- Shanweiniao (en.wikipedia.org)
- An Enantiornithine with a Fan-Shaped Tail, and the Evolution of the Rectricial Complex in Early Birds: Current Biology (cell.com)
- Shanweiniao in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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