Elektorornis is an extinct genus of enantiornithean bird known from a partial hindlimb and a small amount of wing plumage. It contains a single species, Elektorornis chenguangi. The hindlimb and feathers were preserved in a piece of 99 million year old Burmese Amber found in Myanmar. In life, the bird would have been slightly smaller than a sparrow and possibly used its characteristically elongated middle toe to probe for food. Elektorornis chenguangi is the first species of bird described from remains found in Burmese amber, although other undiagnostic enantiornithean specimens have previously been found in amber.[1][2][3] Elektorornis is Greek for 'amber bird'.

Elektorornis
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 99 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: Avialae
Clade: Enantiornithes
Genus: Elektorornis
Xing et al., 2019
Species:
E. chenguangi
Binomial name
Elektorornis chenguangi
Xing et al., 2019

References

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  1. ^ Xing, Lida; O’Connor, Jingmai K.; Chiappe, Luis M.; McKellar, Ryan C.; Carroll, Nathan; Hu, Han; Bai, Ming; Lei, Fumin (2019). "A New Enantiornithine Bird with Unusual Pedal Proportions Found in Amber". Current Biology. 29 (14): 2396–2401. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2019.05.077. PMID 31303484.
  2. ^ "Elektorornis chenuangi". PBDB.
  3. ^ "An Ancient Bird With an Insanely Long Toe Has Been Found Preserved in Amber". Science Alert. Archived from the original on 2019-08-16. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
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