Confuciusornis
Confuciusornis sanctus
Confuciusornis is a genus of basal crow-sized avialan confuciusornithid theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of the Yixian and Jiufotang Formations of China, dating from 125 to 120 million years ago. Like modern birds, Confuciusornis had a toothless beak, but closer and later relatives of modern birds such as Hesperornis and Ichthyornis were toothed, indicating that the loss of teeth occurred convergently in Confuciusornis and living birds. It was thought to be the oldest known bird to have a beak, though this title now belongs to an earlier relative Eoconfuciusornis. It was named after the Chinese moral philosopher Confucius (551–479 BC). Confuciusornis is one of the most abundant vertebrates found in the Yixian Formation, and several hundred complete specimens have been found.
- Family
- Confuciusornithidae
- Order
- Saurischia
- Period
- Cretaceous (125 Ma)
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Length
- 0.5 m
- Weight
- 0.2 kg
- Type locality
- Liaoning, China
- Holotype
- IVPP V10919
- PBDB
- txn:67260