Vorona

:"For the commune in Botoşani County, Romania, see Vorona, Botoşani."

Taxobox
name = "Vorona"
fossil_range = Late Cretaceous
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
genus = "Vorona"
species = "V. berivotrensis"
binomial = "Vorona berivotrensis"
binomial_authority = Forster "et al.", 1996

"Vorona" (pronEng|ˈvʊəruːnə VOO-roo-na, Malagasy for "bird", "V. berivotrensis", "from Berivotra") is a monotypic genus of prehistoric birds. It was described from fossils found in a Maevarano Formation quarry near the village of Berivotra, Mahajanga Province, Madagascar. The age is Late Cretaceous, probably Campanian (70.6 - 83.5 mya). "V. berivotrensis" is known from scattered remains, possibly from a single individual (UA 8651 and FMNH PA715).

The phylogenic affiliation of "Vorona" is hard to determine due to the fragmentary nature of the remains, mainly because the fossil shows a mix of primitive avian features as well as some that seem very modern. "Vorona" might be a primitive ornithuromorph.

"Vorona" is sometimes confused with the dromaeosaur "Rahonavis ostromi", a fossil of which was found in the same location. This confusion has led to the common misconception that "Vorona" had a deinonychosaur-like sickle claw on each foot.

References

* Forster, Catherine A.; Chiappe, Luis M.; Krause, David W. & Sampson, Scott D. (1996): The first Cretaceous bird from Madagascar. "Nature" 382: 532-534. DOI|10.1038/382532a0 (HTML abstract)

Footnotes