Largirostrornis sexdentoris
By Scott Reid on @drawingwithdinosaurs
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Name: Largirostrornis sexdentoris
Name Meaning: Large-Snout Bird
First Described: 1997
Described By: Hou
Classification: Dinosauria, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Enantiornithes, Cathayornithiformes
Largirostrornis is an Enantiornithine from - you guessed it - the Jiufotang Formation of China, living about 120 million years ago in the Aptian age of the Early Cretaceous. It is known from a slab fossil containing much of the skeleton. It had a long and thin snout with six pairs of curved teeth in the jaws, and it had a large body with a length of about 15 centimeters and a wingspan of greater than 25 centimeters. Those wings were broad and rounded, and it also had short legs with claws built for burching. Its musculature in the breast would have been very strong, and that plus its perching feet indicates that it was able to fly well and live adeptly amongst the trees. It also probably still climbed amongst the branches with its wing claws, which were retained, indicating a more intermediate form between something with a modern-bird like ecology, and more “primitive” birds, which would have allowed Largirostrornis to carve out a unique niche in this hyper-competitive ecosystem
Sources:
Martyniuk, M. P. 2012. A Field Guide to Mesozoic Birds and other Winged Dinosaurs. Pan Aves; Vernon, New Jersey.
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