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Similiyanornis

Say it: sim-ih-lee-AN-oh-riss

Name means: “similar to Yanornis”1

Ate: MeatEarly birdsEarly Cretaceous

Similiyanornis was a bird that lived during the time of the dinosaurs. It had a long beak full of teeth and could probably fly. This little hunter lived near lakes and rivers in what is now China.3 2

Lived

121 to 113 million years ago3

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Xierhuqiao, Yixian, Liaoning Province, China3

Food

Meat3 2

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Similiyanornis is known from a nearly complete skeleton with feathers preserved. This gives scientists a great look at what it looked like.1

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

Similiyanornis belongs to a group of birds called Yanornithidae. These birds are some of the earliest known birds that ate fish.2

Its name means 'similar to Yanornis' because it looks a lot like its relative Yanornis.1

The only known species is Similiyanornis brevipectus. The species name 'brevipectus' means 'short chest'.1

AI-made picture of Similiyanornis — An AI-made picture of how Similiyanornis 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: Similiyanornis
Named by: Wang et al. 20203
Group: Early birds
Family / clade: Yanornithidae3
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: Similiyanornis was named and described in 2020 by scientists Min Wang, Zhiheng Li, Qingguo Liu, and Zhonghe Zhou. They studied a complete skeleton found in the Jiufotang Formation of China.3 1
Still debated: Scientists are still debating exactly how Similiyanornis is related to other early birds. More fossils might help settle this.2

Where the facts come from

Similiyanornis (en.wikipedia.org)
Two new Early Cretaceous ornithuromorph birds provide insights into the taxonomy and divergence of Yanornithidae (Aves: Ornithothoraces) (tandfonline.com)
Similiyanornis in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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