Jixiangornis

Taxobox
name = "Jixiangornis"
fossil_range = Early Cretaceous


image_width = 200px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Jeholornithiformes?
familia = Jeholornithidae?
genus = "Jixiangornis"
genus_authority = Q. Ji, S. Ji, H. Zhang, You, J. Zhang, L. Wang, Yuan & X. Ji, 2002
species = "J. orientalis"
binomial = "Jixiangornis orientalis"
binomial_authority = Q. Ji, S. Ji, H. Zhang, You, J. Zhang, L. Wang, Yuan & X. Ji, 2002

"Jixiangornis" is the name given to a genus of basal bird from the Early Cretaceous. Like later birds, it had developed a beak, but it had a long tail, unlike modern birds. Since teeth were still present in some more advanced short-tailed birds, "Jixiangornis" seems to have evolved its beak independently of modern birds. The long forelimb (131% of hindlimb length) indicates a flying bird. "Jixiangornis" is currently known only from the type specimen, a complete skeleton. The fossil was found in the Yixian Formation near Beipiao City, western Liaoning, China.

The type and presently only species, "J. orientalis" ("Oriental bird from the Yixian Formation"), was described in November 2002. Ji "et al" (2002) considered "Jixiangornis" capable of stronger flight than either "Archaeopteryx" or "Shenzhouraptor". Their phylogenetic tree shows "Jixiangornis" forming a clade ("Euavialae" of Ji "et al".) with short-tailed birds that excludes "Archaeopteryx" and "Shenzhouraptor".

An alternative view was presented by Zhou Zong-He and Zhang Fu-Cheng in 2006. They classified both "Jixiangornis" and "Shenzhouraptor" as junior synonyms of "Jeholornis prima", meaning that "Jixiangornis" cannot be more advanced than "Shenzhouraptor". This approach, however, seems problematical given the numerous differences between "Jixiangornis" and "Shenzhouraptor/Jeholornis".

ee also

* "Yixianornis grabaui", a more advanced bird

References

* Ji, Q.; Ji, S.; Zhang, H.; You, H.; Zhang, J.; Wang, L.; Yuan, C. & Ji, X. (2002): A new avialan bird - "Jixiangornis orientalis" gen. et sp. nov. - from the Lower Cretaceous of Western Liaoning, NE China. "Journal of Nanjing University (Natural Sciences)" 38(6): 723-736 [in Chinese with English abstract] .
* Zhou, Z.-H. & Zhang, F.-C. (2006): Mesozoic birds of China - A synoptic review. "Vertebrata Palasiatica" 44(1): 74-98. [http://www.ivpp.ac.cn/pdf/magazine196.pdf PDF fulltext]

External links

* [http://www.dinodata.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6725&Itemid=67 "Jixiangornis" at DinoData]