Elsornis

Taxobox
name = "Elsornis"
status = fossil
fossil_range = Late Cretaceous
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
subclassis = Enantiornithes
genus = "Elsornis"
genus_authority =

"Elsornis" was an enantiornithine bird. It lived during the Late Cretaceous. It is known from fossils found in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. The fossil is exteremely well preserved in three dimensions. It preserves a pneumatized Furcula, which was a character previously unknown in enantiornithines. Elsornis' closest relatives flew well, but it has small wings, indicating that it had adapted to rely less on flight. "A NEW ENANTIORNITHINE BIRD FROM THE LATE CRETACEOUS OF THE GOBI DESERT"Chiappe, L.M., Suzuki, S., Dyke, G.J., Watabe, M., Tsogtbaatar, K.,  Barsbold, R. "Journal of Systematic Palaeontology" (2007), 5: 193-208 Cambridge University Press doi:10.1017/S1477201906001969]

References