Gracilornis

Gracilornis had a very small sternum, or breastbone, compared to its body length. The sternum was only about 11% of the trunk length.3

This bird lived around 110 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous period.1

The name Gracilornis comes from Latin and Greek words meaning 'slender bird', because its skeleton was very thin and light.1

Gracilornis is known from a nearly complete skull and skeleton, which helps scientists understand what it looked like.1

It belonged to a group called Enantiornithes, which were the most common birds during the Cretaceous period.1