恐龍卡第 1165 張，共 2 027 張

Mengciusornis

名字的意思： “Mencius bird”1

吃：肉早期鳥類白堊紀早期

Mengciusornis was an early bird that lived in China during the time of the dinosaurs. It had sharp, curved teeth in its upper beak, but the rest of its mouth was toothless. This little creature could fly and probably hunted for insects and small animals.1 2

生存年代

121 到 113 百萬年前3

白堊紀早期

化石發現地

Lamadong, Jianchang, Liaoning Province, China (Jiufotang Formation)3 1

最高速度

時速約 27 公里（17 英里）

飛行, 估計值

牠生活在什麼時候？

三疊紀

侏羅紀

白堊紀

2 億 5200 萬年前20114566，小行星撞地球

牠有多快？

走路的人 時速約 5 公里 (3 mph)

騎腳踏車的小朋友 時速約 12 公里 (7 mph)

Mengciusornis 時速約 27 公里 (17 mph)

一匹飛奔的馬 時速約 65 公里 (40 mph)

一隻獵豹 時速約 100 公里 (62 mph)

酷東西

趣味知識

Mengciusornis had teeth only in the front part of its upper jaw, called the premaxilla. Its close relative Schizooura had no teeth at all.1 2

The only known fossil of Mengciusornis is a well-preserved skeleton that even shows remains of feathers.1

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

Its name honors the ancient Chinese philosopher Mencius, and 'dentatus' means 'toothed' in Latin.1

Mengciusornis had a V-shaped wishbone (furcula) and a large, rectangular crest on its upper arm bone.2

Scientists think tooth loss in early birds happened in different ways in different groups. Mengciusornis shows a unique pattern where the front of the upper jaw kept teeth while the rest of the mouth lost them.2

Mengciusornis 的 AI 繪圖 — 這是電腦根據科學家目前的知識，用 AI 畫出 Mengciusornis 可能的樣子。這只是猜測：真正的動物可能長得不一樣，也沒有人知道牠真正的顏色。

給恐龍專家

學名: Mengciusornis
命名者: Wang et al. 20203
類群: 早期鳥類
科 / 演化支: Schizoouridae3
分類: Theropoda > Avialae3
岩石的年代: 121 到 113 百萬年 (Aptian)3
岩層: Jiufotang3
國家: 中國3
化石紀錄: The Paleobiology Database 收錄 1 筆3
發現: Mengciusornis was named in 2019 by Wang and colleagues based on a single fossil skeleton (IVPP V26275) from the Jiufotang Formation in China.1 3
仍有爭議: Scientists are still debating exactly how Mengciusornis is related to other early birds and how tooth loss evolved in its lineage.2