''Sazavis'' was 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 cla ...
bird from the
Late Cretaceous.
It might have been related to ''
Nanantius
''Nanantius'' is a genus of extinct enantiornithean avialan ("bird" in the broad sense of the word) known from the Early Cretaceous (Albian, c. 100–112 mya) of Australia.
Specimens and species
The only valid species of ''Nanantius'' is ''N ...
'' and lived in what is now the
Kyzyl Kum of
Uzbekistan.
[
There is a single species known to date, ''Sazavis prisca''.
]
Etymology
Generic name composed of the Kazakh
Kazakh, Qazaq or Kazakhstani may refer to:
* Someone or something related to Kazakhstan
*Kazakhs, an ethnic group
*Kazakh language
*The Kazakh Khanate
* Kazakh cuisine
* Qazakh Rayon, Azerbaijan
*Qazax, Azerbaijan
*Kazakh Uyezd, administrative dis ...
''саз (saz)'' ("clay") and the Latin ''avis'' ("bird"), referring to the clay depression of Uzbekistan, near which this bird was discovered. The specific name derived from the Latin ''priscus'' and means "ancient".
Description
It is only known from a single piece of tibiotarsus[ about wide in a distal joint.][
The bone has been found in the Bissekty Formation. The bird was a size of a pigeon,][ approximately some long in life.]
Paleoecology
''Sazavis'' possibly lived on nearby coasts or in the liman forests dominated by the flowering plants of the Platanaceae family.[
]
References
External links
*
Bissekty Formation
Enantiornitheans
Fossils of Uzbekistan
Fossil taxa described in 1989
Late Cretaceous birds of Asia
Prehistoric bird genera
Turonian life
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