''Ilerdopteryx'' is an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
s, perhaps an
enantiornithine
The Enantiornithes, also known as enantiornithines or enantiornitheans in literature, are a group of extinct avialans ("birds" in the broad sense), the most abundant and diverse group known from the Mesozoic era. Almost all retained teeth and c ...
, from the
Lower Cretaceous
Lower may refer to:
* ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker
* Lower (surname)
* Lower Township, New Jersey
*Lower Receiver (firearms)
* Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England
See also
* Nizhny
{{Disambiguation ...
La Pedrera de Rúbies Formation
The La Pedrera de Rúbies Formation, also called as La Pedrera de Meià is an Early Cretaceous ( late Berriasian to early Barremian geologic formation in Catalonia, Spain. The formation crops out in the area of the Montsec in the Organyà Bas ...
lithographic limestone
Lithographic limestone is hard limestone that is sufficiently fine-grained, homogeneous and defect-free to be used for lithography.
Geologists use the term "lithographic texture" to refer to a grain size under 1/250 mm.
The term "sublitho ...
of
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. The
type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
, ''I. viai'', is known only from a collection of isolated
contour feathers.
[Kellner, A. (2002). "A review of avian Mesozoic fossil feathers." pp. 389–404. in Chiappe and Witmer, (eds.). ''Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs''. Berkeley: University of California Press.]
References
Enantiornithes
Bird genera
Fossil taxa described in 1985
Early Cretaceous birds
Birds of Europe
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