Huoshanornis

Huoshanornis had a very short first finger bone, only about one quarter the length of its hand bone. This made its 'thumb' digit much smaller than in other similar birds.1

The space between its hand bones was unusually wide. This may have given it strong control over its wing feathers and helped it turn quickly during slow flight.1

Its breastbone had a triangular expansion at the end of a side projection, a feature not seen in other enantiornithine birds.1

Huoshanornis lived about 120 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous period, in what is now China.1

The name Huoshanornis comes from Chinese words meaning 'volcano', because the area where it lived had lots of volcanic activity.1

Its foot claws were sharp and curved, like those of modern birds that live in trees, so Huoshanornis probably perched on branches.1