Chiappeavis
| Chiappeavis | ||||||||
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||
| Lower Cretaceous ( Aptium ) | ||||||||
| approx. 120 million years | ||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||
| Chiappeavis | ||||||||
| O'Connor et al. 2015 | ||||||||
| Art | ||||||||
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Chiappeavis is an extinct genus of the enantiornithes . The generic name honors the American paleonithologist Luis María Chiappe and combines its name with the Latin aves "bird".
The only known species is called Chiappeavis magnapremaxillo . The species name is a combination of the Latin magnus "large" and the premaxilla .
It was named and described in 2015 by Jingmai K. O'Connor, Xiaoli Wang, Xiaoting Zheng, Han Hu, Xiaomei Zhang and Zhonghe Zhou.
remains
The only known fossil (holotype STM29-11) was discovered in the Jiufotang Formation , which is in what is now China. The remains are estimated to be around 120 million years old. It shows an almost complete skeleton with a skull. Extensive remains of the plumage have been preserved. Imprints of the wings and the tail are clearly visible. Although the control feathers of the holotype are poorly preserved (without the rachis ), barbs can be seen in some areas that create a herringbone pattern. It is a young adult specimen.
particularities
Chiappeavis had about ten control springs that overlapped and thus formed a wing. The middle two feathers were the longest (approx. 74 mm) and the outermost the shortest (approx. 56 mm). The swing arms have a maximum length of 140 mm and are much wider than the control springs.
The genus can be distinguished from related genera by a number of unique features:
- The convex lower edge of the intermaxillary bone
- The long nasal process of the intermaxillary bone
- A sacrum made up of eight vertebrae
- The concave outer edge of the inner trabecula
- The sloping top of the tibia .