| Gansus Temporal range: Early Cretaceous,
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Fossil specimen, Beijing Museum of Natural History. | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Clade: | Avialae |
| Clade: | Ornithuromorpha |
| Genus: | †Gansus Hou & Liu, 1984 |
| Type species | |
| †Gansus yumenensis Hou & Liu, 1984
| |
| Other species | |
| |
Gansus is a genus of aquatic birds that lived during the Aptian age of the Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) period in what are now Gansu and Liaoning provinces, western China. The rock layers from which their fossils have been recovered are dated to 120 million years ago.[1] It was first described in 1984 on the basis of an isolated left leg.[2] It is the oldest-known member of the Ornithurae, the group which includes modern birds (Neornithes) and extinct related groups, such as Ichthyornis and Hesperornithes.[2][3]
- ^ Ji, S.-A. Atterholt, J. O'Connor, J.K. Lamanna, M.C. Harris, J.D. Li, D.-Q. You, H.-L. & Dodson, P. (2011) A new, three-dimensionally preserved enantiornithine bird (Aves: Ornithothoraces) from Gansu Province, north-western China. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 162(1):201–219.
- ^ a b Hou, L. & Liu, Z. (1984) A new fossil bird from Lower Cretaceous of Gansu and early evolution of birds. Sci. Sin. Ser. B. 27:1296−1302.
- ^ O’Connor, J.K & Zhou, Z. (2012) A redescription of Chaoyangia beishanensis (Aves) and a comprehensive phylogeny of Mesozoic birds. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.