Alexornis

Alexornis
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 93.6 Ma
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Life reconstruction of Alexornis antecedens.
Life reconstruction of Alexornis antecedens.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: Avialae
Clade: †Enantiornithes
Order: †Alexornithiformes
Brodkorb, 1976
Family: †Alexornithidae
Brodkorb, 1976
Genus: †Alexornis
Brodkorb, 1976
Species:
†A. antecedens
Binomial name
†Alexornis antecedens
Brodkorb, 1976

Alexornis is a genus of enantiornithine birds from the Bocana Roja Formation of Baja California, Mexico.[1] This geological formation has been dated to the late Cretaceous period, and more specifically to the Cenomanian To Turonian age, about 93.6 mya. The type and only known species is Alexornis antecedens. Its name means "Alex's ancestral bird"; Alexornis from the given name of ornithologist Alexander Wetmore + Ancient Greek ornis, "bird", and antecedens, Latin for "going before" or "ancestral".[2]

A. antecedens is known only from a single fragmentary skeleton including shoulder, wing, and leg bones, but lacking a skull. It was about the size of a sparrow, weighing only about 35.6 grams (1.26 oz).[3][4] The specimen was discovered in 1971 and described and named in 1976 by Pierce Brodkorb. Brodkorb considered the species to be similar to some modern birds, and at the time, recognized it as one of the few known Cretaceous "land birds" after Gobipteryx minuta (most other Cretaceous birds at the time were thought to be aquatic or semi-aquatic).[2]

  1. ^ Tykoski, R. S., & Fiorillo, A. R. (2010). An enantiornithine bird from the lower middle Cenomanian of Texas. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 30(1), 288-292.
  2. ^ a b Pierce Brodkorb (1976). Discovery of a Cretaceous bird, apparently ancestral to the orders Coraciiformes and Piciformes (Aves: Carinatae) [File size 70 MB] (PDF). Vol. 27. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology. pp. 67–73. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 October 2014.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference enantsFrance was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Campione, Nicolás E.; Evans, David C. (2020). "The accuracy and precision of body mass estimation in non-avian dinosaurs". Biological Reviews. 95 (6): 1759–1797. doi:10.1111/brv.12638. ISSN 1469-185X. PMID 32869488. S2CID 221404013.