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Xiangornis

Say it: zee-ANG-OR-nis

Name means: “free flight bird”1

Ate: MeatEarly birdsEarly Cretaceous

Xiangornis was an ancient bird that lived about 120 million years ago. It had a mix of features from two big groups of early birds, making it a mysterious and special creature. Its wing bones were already fused together like in modern birds, which helped it fly strongly.1 2

Lived

121 to 113 million years ago4

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Liaoning Province, China1 2

Food

Meat3

Top speed

about 27 km/h (17 mph)

Flying, estimate

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How fast was it?

A person walking about 5 km/h (3 mph)

A kid on a bike about 22 km/h (14 mph)

Xiangornis about 27 km/h (17 mph)

A galloping horse about 65 km/h (40 mph)

A cheetah about 100 km/h (62 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

Xiangornis belongs to a group called Enantiornithes, which were the most common birds during the Cretaceous period.3 1

Its wing bones (carpometacarpus) were completely fused together, both near the body and far from it, just like in modern birds.1 2

Xiangornis had a large extensor process on its wing, a bony bump that helped attach muscles and ligaments for strong flight.1 2

This bird shows that some features thought to belong only to modern birds actually evolved earlier and separately in enantiornithines.1 2

The name Xiangornis comes from Mandarin words meaning 'free flight' and the Greek word for bird.1 2

Xiangornis lived during the Aptian age, about 121 to 113 million years ago, in what is now Liaoning, China.3

AI-made picture of Xiangornis — An AI-made picture of how Xiangornis 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: Xiangornis
Named by: Hu et al. 20124
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: Xiangornis was named by Hu and colleagues in 2012 based on a partial skeleton found in the Jiufotang Formation of Liaoning, China. The fossil includes wing and shoulder bones.3 1
Still debated: Scientists are still debating whether Xiangornis is truly an enantiornithine or if it blurs the line between enantiornithines and ornithuromorphs (the group that includes modern birds).1 2

Where the facts come from

A new enantiornithine bird from the Lower Cretaceous of Western Liaoning, China, and its implications for early avian evolution (tandfonline.com)
A new enantiornithine bird from the Lower Cretaceous of Western Liaoning, China, and its implications for early avian evolution (ivpp.cas.cn)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Xiangornis 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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