#panraogallus

Factfiles:

Asteriornis maastrichtensis

Artwork by @otussketching, written by @zygodactylus

Name Meaning: Asteria’s Maastrichtian Bird 

Time: 66.8 million years ago (Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous_ 

Location: Maastricht Formation, Eben-Emael, Belgium 

Say hello to the Wonderchicken! While we know that modern dinosaurs - birds - had to have evolved in the Mesozoic, and diversified somewhat during it, actual fossil representatives of Mesozoic modern birds are quite rare, with only a few duck-related taxa (Vegavis and Teviornis) known. Asteriornis finally adds a stem-chicken to that group, which we knew had to have been around since we had stem-ducks! (They diverged at the same time, so the presence of stem-ducks requires the presence of stem-chickens). A small, long-legged bird, Asteriornis had a lot of characteristics similar to both chickens and ducks, indicating it may have evolved right after that initial divergence. It had a slightly down-curved beak without specializations, allowing it to have a generalist diet. It had wings similar to living ground birds, and that combined with its long legs indicates a terrestrial lifestyle. Living along the coast, Asteriornis would have eaten whatever it could forage for, possibly wading into the water or trekking through high vegetation when necessary. It lived near the ocean, along the coast, and as such it shared its habitat with many types of invertebrates, including corals and echinoderms and crustaceans, as well as ammonites. Surrounded by grasses, palms, and shrubs, Asteriornis also lived alongside other vertebrates such as a wide variety of sharks, tons of mosasaurs, turtles, elasmosaurs, marsupials, and other dinosaurs such as Orthomerus, Janavis, large theropods, an unknown opposite-bird, and other potential Ornithurans. 

Panraogallus hezhengensis

Artwork by @otussketching, written by @zygodactylus

Name Meaning: Coiled Chicken from Hezheng

Time: 7.25 to 11.1 million years old (Tortonian stage of the Miocene epoch, Neogene period)

Location: Liushu Formation, Gansu Province, China

Panraogallus was a weird early chicken that differed from others by one notable feature: a very long neck, much longer than other pheasants. This is only seen in a handful of related birds today. Panraogallus seemed to follow the zigzag pattern present in some grouse rather than a loop like that seen in a cracid or guineafowl. This gave it a low, loud call, distinct from those of other pheasants. It was quite large, around 2.5 kilograms on average. The calls of these species, which would have traveled extremely long distances in its habitat, were probably used in communication - to attract mates, warn of danger, and gather flocks. In the temperate savannah habitat, Panraogallus would have been able to reach each other over large distances, very easily coverable in single days of walking in such an open area. Other birds in the area included the diurnal hawk-owl Miosurnia, kestrels, old world vultures, ostriches, sandgrouse, and the weird Ergilornithids. Mammal neighbors included Gomphotherium, Chilotherium, Chalicotheres, weird horses, bizarre giraffids, and giant hyena mimics.