Chiappeavis

Chiappeavis
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 120 Ma
Artist’s restoration.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: Avialae
Clade: Enantiornithes
Family: Pengornithidae
Genus: Chiappeavis
O'Connor et al., 2016
Species:
C. magnapremaxillo
Binomial name
Chiappeavis magnapremaxillo
O'Connor et al., 2016

Chiappeavis is a genus of enantiornithean bird from Early Cretaceous of northeastern China. The only species is Chiappeavis magnapremaxillo. Chiappeavis is classified within the family Pengornithidae. It is known from a single, almost complete skeleton including feather impressions discovered in the Jiufotang Formation of the Jehol Group. Long feathers formed a fan-shaped tail that was probably employed in flight.[1]

The genus name honors Luis Chiappe for his extensive research on Mesozoic birds. The specific name magnapremaxillo ("large premaxilla") alludes to the unusually large size of the premaxillary bone, the frontmost bone of the upper jaw.[1]

The only specimen (holotype, STM29-11), of a subadult individual, was discovered on a single slab in Jianchang County, Liaoning. Is housed in the Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature in Pingyi County, Shandong.[1]

  1. ^ a b c Jingmai K. O’Connor; Xiaoli Wang; Xiaoting Zheng; Han Hu; Xiaomei Zhang; Zhonghe Zhou (2016). "An enantiornithine with a fan-shaped tail, and the evolution of the rectricial complex in early birds". Current Biology. 26 (1): 114–119. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.11.036. PMID 26748849.