Brevirostruavis (meaning "short rostrum bird") is a genus of Early Cretaceous enenatiornithine bird from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of Liaoning, China. The type and only species is Brevirostruavis macrohyoideus.[1]
| Brevirostruavis macrohyoideus Temporal range: Early Cretaceous,
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| Brevirostruavis macrohyoideus foraging on insects clustered around early flowers. | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Clade: | Avialae |
| Clade: | †Enantiornithes |
| Genus: | †Brevirostruavis Li et al., 2021 |
| Species: | †B. macrohyoideus
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| Binomial name | |
| †Brevirostruavis macrohyoideus Li et al., 2021
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Description
editThe holotype of the Brevirostruavis, IVPP V13266, preserves features of the skeletal anatomy not seen among early stem and extant birds. Such features include extremely lengthy and bony ceratobranchial hyoid elements, and a very short cranial rostrum. The combination of a long tongue and short beak is not seen in extant birds.[2] This may indicate a feeding specialization similar to hummingbirds and other living birds with craniofacial similarities, such as honeyeaters and woodpeckers, although with these groups the epibranchials are lengthened.[1]
Paleoecology
editBrevirostruavis comes from Early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation, Which has the biggest and most important collection of Mesozoic birds.[3] Other animals in the formation contains include the choristodere reptile Liaoxisaurus, the fish Lycoptera, the early mammal-like Fossiomanus,[4] and the dinosaur Sinotyrannus.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b Li, Zhiheng; Wang, Min; Stidham, Thomas A.; Zhou, Zhonghe; Clarke, Julia (2021). "Novel evolution of a hyper-elongated tongue in a Cretaceous enantiornithine from China and the evolution of the hyolingual apparatus and feeding in birds". Journal of Anatomy. 240 (4): 627–638. doi:10.1111/joa.13588. ISSN 1469-7580. PMC 8930807. PMID 34854094. S2CID 244860443.
- ^ This 120-million-year-old bird could stick out its tongue
- ^ Yu, Zhiqiang; Wang, Min; Li, Youjuan; Deng, Chenglong; He, Huaiyu (2021). "New geochronological constraints for the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation in Jianchang Basin, NE China, and their implications for the late Jehol Biota". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 583: 110657. Bibcode:2021PPP...58310657Y. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110657. S2CID 239406222.
- ^ Mao, Fangyuan; Zhang, Chi; Liu, Cunyu; Meng, Jin (2021). "Fossoriality and evolutionary development in two Cretaceous mammaliamorphs". Nature. 592 (7855): 577–582. Bibcode:2021Natur.592..577M. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03433-2. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 33828300. S2CID 233183060.
- ^ Ji, Qiang; Ji, Shu-an; Zhang, Li-jun (2009). "First large tyrannosauroid theropod from the Early Cretaceous Jehol Biota in northeastern China". Geological Bulletin of China. 28 (10): 1369–1374.