Dino card No. 1693 of 2,027

Soroavisaurus

Say it: sore-oh-ave-ih-SORE-us

Name means: “sister to Avisaurus”1

Ate: MeatEarly birdsLate Cretaceous

Soroavisaurus was a bird that lived about 71 to 69 million years ago in what is now Argentina. It was about as long as a ruler (40 cm) and used its sharp, curved talons to catch and carry prey, just like a hawk or eagle does today.1

Lived

72 to 66 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Lecho Formation, El Brete, Salta Province, Argentina1

Food

Meat1 2

Length

0.4 m1

estimated body length

Weight

1.55 kg to 7.25 kg3

estimate

Height

0.211 to 0.35 m3

hip height

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How tall was it?

hip height

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 2 house cats

as long as 2 bananas end to endabout as heavy as a house catas heavy as 60 bananas

How big was Soroavisaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Soroavisaurus is known only from leg bones, especially a fused bone called the tarsometatarsus. No wing bones have been found, so its wingspan is unknown.1

The tarsometatarsus of Soroavisaurus has a gap between two of its metatarsal bones that is not seen in any other enantiornithine bird.1

Soroavisaurus lived in a warm, humid coastal plain with tropical forests, ponds and lagoons.1

It shared its home with other enantiornithine birds like Lectavis and Yungavolucris, as well as the dinosaurs Noasaurus and Saltasaurus.1

Some scientists think Soroavisaurus might be the same animal as Enantiornis or Martinavis, which are known from wing bones found at the same site. But it is hard to be sure.1

The name Soroavisaurus means 'sister to Avisaurus' because scientists thought it was closely related to that other fossil bird.1

AI-made picture of Soroavisaurus — An AI-made picture of how Soroavisaurus 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: Soroavisaurus
Named by: Chiappe 19934
Group: Early birds
Family / clade: Avisauridae4
Classification: Theropoda > Avialae4
Age of the rocks: 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)4
Rock formations: Lecho4
Countries: Argentina4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Soroavisaurus was named in 1993 by Argentine paleontologist Luis M. Chiappe. He studied leg bones collected from El Brete, Argentina, and named three new bird species, including Soroavisaurus australis.1
Still debated: Scientists are not sure whether Soroavisaurus is really a separate species or if it is the same animal as Enantiornis or Martinavis, which are known only from wing bones from the same place.1

Where the facts come from

Soroavisaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Soroavisaurus (kiwix.lc.theinterface.network)
Soroavisaurus 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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