Vorona

For the commune in Botoşani County, Romania, see Vorona, Botoşani.

Vorona Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 70 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
(unranked):	Ornithurae
Genus:	Vorona
Species:	V. berivotrensis
Binomial name
Vorona berivotrensis Forster et al., 1996

Vorona ( /ˈvʊəruːnə/ VOOR-oo-nə; Malagasy for "bird", V. berivotrensis, "from Berivotra") is a monotypic genus of prehistoric birds. It was described from fossils found in a Maevarano Formation quarry near the village of Berivotra, Mahajanga Province, Madagascar. The age is Late Cretaceous, probably Campanian (70.6–83.5 mya). V. berivotrensis is known from scattered remains, possibly from a single individual (UA 8651 and FMNH PA715).

The phylogenic affiliation of Vorona is hard to determine due to the fragmentary nature of the remains, mainly because the fossil shows a mix of primitive avian features as well as some that seem very modern. Vorona might be a primitive ornithuromorph.

Vorona is sometimes confused with the dromaeosaur Rahonavis ostromi, a fossil of which was found in the same location. This confusion has led to the common misconception that Vorona had a deinonychosaur-like sickle claw on each foot.

References

• Forster, Catherine A.; Chiappe, Luis M.; Krause, David W. & Sampson, Scott D. (1996): The first Cretaceous bird from Madagascar. Nature 382: 532-534. doi:10.1038/382532a0 (HTML abstract)