Dalingheornis
Encyclopedia
Dalingheornis is a genus
of enantiornithine bird. It lived during the Early Cretaceous about 122Ma ago and is known from a single juvenile fossil
found in the upper part of the Yixian Formation
in Liaoning
province, People's Republic of China
. It is the first known Mesozoic bird with heterodactyl feet specifically adapted for climbing, and was probably among the most arboreal of the enantiornithines. Unlike its relatives, it had an unusually long (17mm) skeletal tail made up of 20 vertebrae, similar to the tails of dromaeosaurids.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of enantiornithine bird. It lived during the Early Cretaceous about 122Ma ago and is known from a single juvenile fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
found in the upper part of the Yixian Formation
Yixian Formation
The Yixian Formation is a geological formation in Jinzhou, Liaoning, People's Republic of China, that spans 11 million years during the early Cretaceous period...
in Liaoning
Liaoning
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the northeast of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "辽" , a name taken from the Liao River that flows through the province. "Níng" means "peace"...
province, People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. It is the first known Mesozoic bird with heterodactyl feet specifically adapted for climbing, and was probably among the most arboreal of the enantiornithines. Unlike its relatives, it had an unusually long (17mm) skeletal tail made up of 20 vertebrae, similar to the tails of dromaeosaurids.