Longipteryx

Longipteryx chaoyangensis - featherless copy.

• Jiufotang lineup, Liaoning (China)

Longipteryx is a prehistoric bird genus from the Lower Cretaceous, 110-120 million years ago, the (upper Aptian - Albian lower ) lived in the northeast of the People 's Republic of China. Remains the only way Longipteryx chaoyangensis were salvaged from the Jiufotang lineup at Chaoyang in Liaoning Province. In addition to the holotype - a skeleton almost completely preserved - which ( IVPP ) is stored under the number V 12325 now at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, there are still another complete specimen and several isolated bone finds.

Etymology

The name Longipteryx is a neologism, which longus = long and ancient Greek πτέρυξ ( pteryx ) = wing, feather is composed of the Latin; chaoyangensis is the Latinized adjective Chaoyang City, so to German " chaoyangisch ", " from Chaoyang ".

Description

Longipteryx reached a life-size of about 15 cm, the tail not included in the calculation. It had a long beak at the tip of some Hakenzähnchen were attached; the beak length exceeding all the dimensions of the rest of the back of the head. As is already evident from the genus name he had comparatively long and powerful wings. Its primitive character can be read using the two long, clawed fingers and stubby thumbs. The flight apparatus, however, was very well developed and so Longipteryx already had well over the chest reinforcing hook-shaped ribs extensions - in stark contrast to his contemporaries. Claws and toes were long and strong, the feet, however, quite short. All in all it is likely to have acted in Longipteryx an already pronounced airworthy animal. His ability to move on the ground, however, was somewhat limited, as is for example 1.56 times the length of the humerus, such as the femur.

The holotype has many feather impressions. Oddly, including any flight feathers, essentially, these are to body feathers, wing coverts and down. The well-developed flight apparatus contradicts the assumption that Longipteryx was a flightless bird. Maybe the bird was at his death just in the Mauser, any remaining feathers were doing then separated. On the other hand, a number of finds of Conficiusornis a comparable fossilization, but this was known to be very long flight feathers. In the holotype the tail end was destroyed and it also will not get any tail feathers. The other found object has an almost complete pygostyle, but it has hardly any feathers. Interestingly, not yet been found in the usual Neognathae tail feathers at the Enantiornithes and other prehistoric birds ( so far).

Way of life

Probably Longipteryx has dived for fish, crabs and other animals living in the aquatic environment. Its ecological niche is probably generated the one today kingfisher come close. But this is, of course, is only an approximate comparison because his actual life and inhabited by him ecotope in the Lower Cretaceous of Northeast China in any case strongly influenced by the difference of the present time.

System

Cladistic analyzes of the skeletal anatomy of primitive birds have Longipteryx as a member of the Cretaceous bird group Enantiornithes. Within the enantiornithinen birds the genus is also provided to the Euenantiornithes, while in the original description of the taxon own ( monotypic ) Family ( Longipterygidae ) and order ( Longipterygiformes ) was provided within the subclass Enantiornithes.