''Heptasteornis'' is the name given to a dubious

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 ...

alvarezsaurid Alvarezsauridae is a family of small, long-legged dinosaurs. Although originally thought to represent the earliest known flightless birds, they are now thought to be an early diverging branch of maniraptoran theropods. Alvarezsaurids were highly ...

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

from the Late

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

. The type (and only known) species is ''Heptasteornis andrewsi'', described as a presumed gigantic prehistoric

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

in 1975. It was previously included in '' Elopteryx nopcsai'' and indeed the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

s of both were believed to be from the same individual as they were discovered, and initially were assigned the same specimen number. This appears to be in error however (see below).Harrison & Walker (1975) Heptasteornis

The material was discovered in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

by Franz Nopcsa, in the late

Maastrichtian The Maastrichtian ( ) is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) geologic timescale, the latest age (geology), age (uppermost stage (stratigraphy), stage) of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or Upper Cretaceous series (s ...

Sânpetru Formation ( Rognacian

faunal stage In chronostratigraphy, a stage is a succession of rock strata laid down in a single age on the geologic timescale, which usually represents millions of years of deposition. A given stage of rock and the corresponding age of time will by conven ...

, deposited c. 68 - 66

million years ago Million years ago, abbreviated as Mya, Myr (megayear) or Ma (megaannum), is a unit of time equal to (i.e. years), or approximately 31.6 teraseconds. Usage Myr is in common use in fields such as Earth science and cosmology. Myr is also used w ...

) of the Haţeg Basin in

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

. The

scientific name In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

means "C.W. Andrews' Transylvanian bird", after the namer of ''Elopteryx'', and

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''hepta'' (ἑπτά) "seven" + ''asty'' (άστυ) "city" + ''ornis'' (όρνις) "bird"; the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''septum urbium'' or the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

''Siebenbürgen'' - meaning "seven cities" or "seven castles" - were common names for the Transylvanian region throughout the centuries. The material was originally limited to a mere two broken

distal Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position provi ...

tibiotarsi, BMNH A4359 and A1528. The taxonomic status and systematic placement of these bones was much disputed and they were often considered

junior synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

s of '' Bradycneme'' or ''Elopteryx''. Given the fragmentary nature of the fossils, little could be resolved and ''Heptasteornis'' was (and still is) considered 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 ...

'' by many. While Naish and Dyke in 2004 also classified ''Heptasteornis'' as a ''nomen dubium'', they reassessed it as an indeterminate

, the first to be known from Europe, and this theory, originally proposed in 1988, has since withstood further scrutiny. ''Bradycneme'' and ''Elopteryx'' on the other hand seem to be more advanced

maniraptora Maniraptora is a clade of coelurosaurian dinosaurs which includes the birds and the non-avian dinosaurs that were more closely related to them than to ''Ornithomimus velox''. It contains the major subgroups Avialae, Dromaeosauridae, Troodontidae, ...

n theropods.Naish & Dyke (2004)

References

Bibliography

* (1913): On some bird remains from the Upper Cretaceous of Transylvania. '' Geological Magazine'' 5: 193–196. * (1998): Small theropods from the Late Cretaceous of the Hateg Basin (western Romania) - an unexpected diversity at the top of the food chain. ''Oryctos'' 1: 87–104. * (1975): The Bradycnemidae, a new family of owls from the Upper Cretaceous of Romania. ''

Palaeontology Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geo ...

'' 18(3): 563–570. * (1992): The first record of dromaeosaurid dinosaurs (Saurischia, Theropoda) in the Maastrichtian of southern Europe: palaeobiogeographical implications. ''Bulletin de la Société géologique de la France'' 163(3): 337–343. * (2004): ''Heptasteornis'' was no ornithomimid, troodontid, dromaeosaurid or owl: the first alvarezsaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from Europe. ''Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Monatshefte'' 7: 385–401. * (1988): ''Predatory Dinosaurs of the World.'' New York, Simon & Schuster. * (1991): The dinosaurs of Transylvania. ''National Geographic Research and Exploration'' 7(2): 196–215
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{{Taxonbar, from=Q3234337 Alvarezsauridae Dinosaur genera Maastrichtian dinosaurs Hațeg fauna Fossil taxa described in 1975 Taxa named by Colin Harrison Taxa named by Cyril Walker Dinosaurs of Romania