Cathayornis
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''Cathayornis'' is a
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 enantiornithean birds from the
Jiufotang Formation The Jiufotang Formation () is an Early Cretaceous geological formation in Chaoyang, Liaoning which has yielded fossils of feathered dinosaurs, primitive birds, pterosaurs, and other organisms (see Jehol Biota). It is a member of the Jehol group. T ...
of
Liaoning ) , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = Clockwise: Mukden Palace in Shenyang, Xinghai Square in Dalian, Dalian coast, Yalu River at Dandong , image_map = Liaoning in China (+all claims hatched).svg , ...
,
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. It is known definitively from only one species, ''Cathayornis yandica'', one of the first Enantiornithes found in China. Several additional species were once incorrectly classified as ''Cathayornis'', and have since been reclassified or regarded as '' nomina dubia''.


Description

''Cathayornis yandica'' was a small enantiornithean with a slightly elongated, toothy snout and perching feet. Like most other Enantiornithes, it had large claws on the first two fingers that supported the wing. According to most recent studies, only one specimen can be definitively assigned to this species, a fossil catalogued as number IVPP V9769 and currently housed in the collections of the
Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology The Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP; ) of People's Republic of China, China is a research institution and collections repository for fossils, including many dinosaur and pterosaur specimens (many from the Yixian For ...
in
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
. ''Cathayornis'' can be told apart from similar Enantiornithes (especially '' Sinornis'', '' Eocathayornis'', and '' Houornis'') by its larger size, a shorter and straighter first finger with a slightly longer claw, and other anatomical details.Zhou, Zhonghe, Hou and Lianhai. (2001). "The Discovery and Study of Mesozoic Birds in China." In Chiappe, L. and Witmer, L. (eds.), ''Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs''. 2001: University of California Press. Two additional but very fragmentary specimens, IVPP V9936 and V10896, have been referred to ''C. yandica'' in the past, but cannot be directly compared with the
type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...
because they do not preserve any of the same key parts of the skeleton.


Classification and species

Paul Sereno Paul Callistus Sereno (born October 11, 1957) is a professor of paleontology at the University of Chicago who has discovered several new dinosaur species on several continents, including at sites in Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco and Niger. ...
''et al.'', in 2002, considered ''Cathayornis'' a junior synonym of ''Sinornis''. They interpreted the anatomies of the two as very similar and sharing key autapomorphies of the
pygostyle Pygostyle is a skeletal condition in which the final few caudal vertebrae are fused into a single ossification, supporting the tail feathers and musculature. In modern birds, the rectrices attach to these. The pygostyle is the main component o ...
.Sereno, Rao and Li, (2002). "''Sinornis santensis'' (Aves: Enantiornithes) from the Early Cretaceous of Northeastern China." Pp 184-208. in Chiappe and Witmer (eds.), ''
Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...
Birds – Above the Heads of Dinosaurs''. Berkeley: University of California Press
The first thorough review of ''Sinornis'' and ''Cathayornis'' was published by Jingmai O'Connor and Gareth Dyke in 2010. O'Connor and Dyke concluded that despite the earlier opinion of Sereno and colleagues, the two birds were not synonyms and in fact differ in several clear ways, including different proportions in the wing claws and digits, differences in the pelvis, and size of the pygostyle.O'Connor, J. and Dyke, G. (2010). "A reassessment of ''Sinornis santensis'' and ''Cathayornis yandica'' (Aves: Enantiornithes)." ''Records of the Australian Museum'', 62: 7-20. Several other species – ''Cathayornis aberransis'',Hou, Zhou, Zhang and Gu, (2002). ''Mesozoic birds from western Liaoning in China''. . 120 pp. ''Cathayornis chabuensis''Li, J., Li, Z., Zhang, Y., Zhou, Z., Bai, Z., Zhang, L. and Ba, T. (2008). "A new species of ''Cathayornis'' from the Lower Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia, China and its stratigraphic significance." ''Acta Geologica Sinica'', 82(6): 1115-1123. and ''Cathayornis caudatus''Hou Lianhai, 1997. ''Mesozoic Birds of China''. Phoenix Valley Bird Park, Lugu Hsiang, Taiwan. 221 pp. – had been classified as ''Cathayornis'' in the past. However, their validity and/or assignment to the genus ''Cathayornis'' has been questioned in subsequent evaluations. Jingmai O'Connor and Gareth Dyke (2010) found that many of the supposedly distinct features of ''C. aberransis'' (such as the base of a crest on the skull) had been inaccurately described, casting doubt on the few remaining features separating it from ''C. yandica'', and suggested that further study was needed to determine its validity. Similarly, ''C. caudatus'' was so named for its supposedly bony tail lacking a pygostyle, and was further differentiated by its small size. O'Connor and Dyke re-examined the specimen and showed that the specimen is in fact only slightly smaller than the type specimen of ''C. yandica'', and that a normal enantiornithean tail with a pygostyle is clearly visible in one of the fossil slabs, parts of the hip bones having been mistaken for unfused tail vertebrae. O'Connor and Dyke therefore considered ''C. caudatus'' a
nomen dubium In binomial nomenclature, a ''nomen dubium'' (Latin for "doubtful name", plural ''nomina dubia'') is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application. Zoology In case of a ''nomen dubium,'' it may be impossible to determine whether a ...
. They considered ''C. chabuenis'', from the Jingchuan Formation of
Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...
, to be clearly distinct from ''C. yandica'' and most likely a representative of a new genus. In a 2015 re-evaluation of supposed "cathayornithids", Wang and Liu determined that ''C. caudatus'' could be differentiated from ''Cathayornis'' and placed it in the new genus '' Houornis''. On the other hand, they considered ''C. chabuensis'' a ''nomen dubium''. Other species of similar birds from the Jiufotang Formation have been regarded as synonymous with ''C. yandica'' by some researchers, including '' Largirostrornis sexdentoris'' and '' Cuspirostrisornis houi'',Zhou Z. and Wang Y. (2010). "Vertebrate diversity of the Jehol Biota as compared with other lagerstätten." ''Science China: Earth Sciences'', 53(12): 1894–1907.

though this has yet to be supported by rigorous study. O'Connor and colleagues noted that '' Longchengornis sanyanensis'', also synonymized with ''C. yandica'' by some authors, seems to show distinct anatomy not shared with at least that species of ''Cathayornis''.


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3700185 Bird genera Early Cretaceous birds of Asia Enantiornithes Fossil taxa described in 1992 Jiufotang fauna