Liaoxiornis

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Fossil of Liaoxiornis delicatus

• Yixian Formation, Liaoning, China

Liaoxiornis is the smallest Mesozoic bird of the Jehol biota.

Features

Liaoxiornis is as big as a sparrow in some. He has a large, deep-seated skull with toothed jaws. He has both primitive and more developed feathers. His thigh bones are longer than his upper arm bone. His pygostyle is also longer than its neck. His metacarpals are fused together and he has fewer fingers than in Archaeopteryx or Conficiusornis. The only known copy is just juvenile or subadult and therefore taxonomically very meaningful.

Species

Only the type Liaoxiornis delicates HOU, CHEN, 1999 is known.