Confuciusornis Fossil range: Early Cretaceous
Long- and a short-tailed Confuciusornis, by F. Spindler
Conservation status
Extinct (fossil)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Family: Confuciusornithidae Genus: Confuciusornis Hou et al., 1995
Species
C. sanctus (type) C. dui Hou et al., 1999 C. chuonzhous (disputed) C. suniae (disputed) The Early Cretaceous (timestratigraphic name) or the Lower Cretaceous (logstratigraphic name), is the earlier of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous period. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 681 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (872 × 768 pixel, file size: 51 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Autor: Bleistiftzeichnung aus dem Jahr 2003 von Frederik Spindler. ... The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. ... Three small ammonite fossils, each approximately 1. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Animalia redirects here. ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... “Aves” redirects here. ... In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ... In zoological nomenclature, a type is a specimen or a taxon. ...

Confuciusornis is a genus of crow-sized prehistoric bird from the Early Cretaceous of China, approximately 120 million years ago. Like modern birds, Confuciusornis had a toothless beak, but close relatives of modern birds such as Hesperornis and Ichthyornis were toothed, indicating that the loss of teeth occurred convergently in Confuciusornis and living birds. It was named after the Chinese moral philosopher Confucius (551-479 B.C.). Prehistory (Greek words προ = before and ιστορία = history) is the period of human history prior to the advent of writing (which marks the beginning of recorded history). ... “Aves” redirects here. ... The Cretaceous Period is one of the major divisions of the geologic timescale, reaching from the end of the Jurassic Period (i. ... Families Hesperornithidae Hesperornithiformes are an extinct and highly specialized order of Cretaceous toothed birds. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Confucius (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kung-fu-tzu, lit. ...

Recognized species are C. sanctus (the type species), C. dui, C. chuonzhous and C. suniae (the latter two being possibly synonymous with C. sanctus). A close relative, Changchengornis hengdaoziensis lived in the same time and region. Changchengornis also possessed the long tail feathers, as well as a noticeable downy coat of feathers. Recent cladistic analyses suggest that Confuciusornis may be more closely related to Microraptor and other dromaeosaurs than to Archaeopteryx (Mayr et. al, 2005); in any case, it was certainly not derived from Archaeopteryx. Type specimens When a new species is discovered, more important than creating a new and unique name for the species is developing a reasonably detailed description. ... Microraptor was a small, bird-like dinosaur related to the dromaeosaurs. ... Binomial name Archaeopteryx lithographica Meyer, 1861 Synonyms see text Archaeopteryx (from Ancient Greek αρχαιος archaios meaning ancient and πτερυξ pteryx meaning feather or wing;[1] pronounced ), from the late Jurassic Period (Kimmeridgian stage, 155-150 million years ago) of what is now Germany, is the earliest and most primitive known avian. ...

Fossils of Confuciusornis show that it had an exceptionally large humerus. A characteristic hole near its shoulder-end may have reduced the bone's weight. The furcula or wishbone was a simple bar, like that of Archaeopteryx. The sternum was a small and simple plate that may have had a slight keel but was otherwise unsuitable for the attachment of large muscles. However, the scapulas were fused to the coracoid bones and may have formed a solid base for the attachment of flight muscles. No modern bird has a comparable structure. The orientation of the glenoid (shoulder) joint was sideways, instead of angled dorsally as in modern birds; this means that Confuciornis was unable to lift its wings above its back. Like Archaeopteryx, it was thus incapable of the upstroke required for modern flapping flight (Senter, 2006), but the peculiar shoulder bones make it possible that it may have used another technique. The humerus is a long bone in the arm or fore-legs (animals) that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. ... Binomial name Archaeopteryx lithographica Meyer, 1861 Synonyms see text Archaeopteryx (from Ancient Greek αρχαιος archaios meaning ancient and πτερυξ pteryx meaning feather or wing;[1] pronounced ), from the late Jurassic Period (Kimmeridgian stage, 155-150 million years ago) of what is now Germany, is the earliest and most primitive known avian. ... Left scapula - front view () Left scapula - rear view () In anatomy, the scapula, or shoulder blade, is the bone that connects the humerus (arm bone) with the clavicle (collar bone). ... In human beings, the coracoid process is a small hook-like structure that comes off the scapula to point forward. ... Flight is the main mode of locomotion used by most of the worlds bird species. ...

Confuciusornis is more advanced than Archaeopteryx in possessing a short tail with a pygostyle (a bone formed from a series of short, fused tail vertebrae), but more primitive than modern birds in retaining large claws on the forelimbs. The primary remiges are more than twice the length of the hand and relatively longer than those of any living bird, while the secondary remiges were rather short by comparison. Thus, the wing shape was very unlike that of living birds. Many individuals show long, streamer-like tail feathers that may indicate sexual dimorphism and could have been used in courtship, but the rest of the tail feathers were small and probably of little use in flight. The proportions of the toes suggest that they were used for both walking and climbing, while the large claws of the thumb and third finger were probably used for climbing. The head probably had a small crest or tuft similar to that in today's mousebirds or turacos. Binomial name Archaeopteryx lithographica Meyer, 1861 Synonyms see text Archaeopteryx (from Ancient Greek αρχαιος archaios meaning ancient and πτερυξ pteryx meaning feather or wing;[1] pronounced ), from the late Jurassic Period (Kimmeridgian stage, 155-150 million years ago) of what is now Germany, is the earliest and most primitive known avian. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into bird skeleton. ... Remiges are a birds flight feathers which are attached to the rear portion of the wing bones. ... Female (left) and male Common Pheasant, illustrating the dramatic difference in both color and size between the sexes Sexual dimorphism is the systematic difference in form between individuals of different sex in the same species. ... Genera Colius Urocolius The mousebirds are a small group of near passerine birds which have no clear affinities to other groups, and are therefore given order status. ... Genera Corythaeola Tauraco Ruwenzorornis Musophaga Corythaixoides Crinifer The turacos, plantain eaters and go-away birds make up the bird family Musophagidae (literally banana-eaters). ...

There are immature specimens known, and from the analysis of bone growth patterns of young adults it has been estimated that Confuciusornis reached maturity somewhat slower than extant small birds, but faster than advanced dinosaurs (de Ricqlès et al., 2003), which might indicate an omnivorous diet similar to modern crows. Species See text. ...

It has been hypothesized that Confuciusornis fed on plant materials due to its toothless beak (Zhou & Zhang, 2003). One specimen (IVPP V133) with apparent fossilized food remains has been recovered to date; it seems to have been in the process of regurgiating a pellet of fish bones (probably Jinanichthys) when it died (Dalsätt et al., 2006). A pellet, in ornithology, is the mass of undigested parts of a birds food that some bird species occasionally regurgitate. ...

References

• Dalsätt, J.; Zhou, Z.; Zhang, F. & Ericson, Per G. P. (2006). Food remains in Confuciusornis sanctus suggest a fish diet. Naturwissenschaften 93(9): 444–446. DOI:10.1007/s00114-006-0125-y (HTML abstract)

• Hou, L.; Zhou, Z.; Gu, Y. & Zhang, H. (1995). [Description of Confuciusornis sanctus]. Chinese Science Bulletin 10: 61-63.

• Hou, L.-H.; Zhou, Z.; Martin, L.D. & Feduccia, A. (1995): A beaked bird from the Jurassic of China. Nature 377: 616-618. DOI:10.1038/377616a0 (HTML abstract)

• de Ricqlès, A.J.; Padian, K.; Horner, J.R.; Lamm, E.-T. & Myhrvold, N. (2003): Osteohistology of Confuciusornis sanctus (Theropoda: Aves). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 23(2): 373–386. DOI:10.1671/0272-4634(2003)023[0373:OOCSTA]2.0.CO;2 HTML abstract

• Mayr, G.; Pohl, B. & Peters, D. S. (2005). A well-preserved Archaeopteryx specimen with theropod features. Science 310(5753): 1483-1486. DOI:10.1126/science.1120331 (HTML abstract) Supporting Online Material

• Senter, Phil (2006): Scapular orientation in theropods and basal birds, and the origin of flapping flight. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 51(2): 305–313. PDF fulltext

• Zhou, Z. & Zhang, F. (2003): Jeholornis compared to Archaeopteryx, with a new understanding of the earliest avian evolution. Naturwissenschaften 90: 220–225. PDF fulltext

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