Paraprotopteryx

Taxobox
name = "Paraprotopteryx"
fossil_range = Early Cretaceous


image_width =
image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
subclassis = Enantiornithes ?
ordo = uncertain (incertae sedis)
familia = uncertain (incertae sedis)
genus = "Paraprotopteryx"
genus_authority = Zheng, X., Zhang, Z., and Hou, L. 2007
species = "P. gracilis"
binomial = "Paraprotopteryx gracilis"
binomial_authority = Zheng, X., Zhang, Z., and Hou, L. 2007

"Paraprotopteryx" is a genus of enantiornithine bird which lived during the Early Cretaceous. Its fossils have been found in the Yixian Formation of China, along with other early birds and feathered dinosaurs.

Distinguishing Characteristics

"Paraprotopteryx" has a furcula (wishbone) which is shaped like a Y with a narrow angle between the clavicles. It also has an unusually shaped breastbone, distinguishing it from other birds in its suborder, the enantiornithines. The carpometacarpus is only partially fused.

It has four long rectrices (flight feathers on the tail), which may represent an important step in feather evolution. For comparison, most modern birds have twelve rectrices; grouse often have more than twelve, while grebes have none. In "Paraprotopteryx" they may have served as a secondary sex characteristic.

References

[http://www.dinodata.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9753&Itemid=103]