Zhyraornis

taxobox
name="Zhyraornis"
status = fossil
fossil_range = Late Cretaceous
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
familia = Zhyraornithidae
genus = "Zhyraornis"
genus_authority =
species = "Z. kashkarovi"
binomial = "Zhyraornis kashkarovi"
binomial_authority =

"Zhyraornis" is a genus of prehistoric bird from the Late Cretaceous (Santonian to early Campanian, 85-79 mya)Verify source|date=December 2007 . Its fossils have been found in Bissekty Formation deposits near Dzharakuduk in the Kyzyl Kum, Uzbekistan; the only accepted species is "Zhyraornis kashkarovi". A supposed second species, "Zhyraornis" logunovi", cannot be classified with certainty other than it is an indeterminable maniraptoriform.

The relationship of this bird is unresolved. It is occasionally placed in the Enantiornithes as a distinct family Zhyraornithidae, but while it seems distinct enough to warrant the latter, the former is not well supported and it might actually be close to the ancestors of modern birds.