Jinzhouornis

Jinzhouornis; Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 125 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	Theropoda
Clade:	Avialae
Family:	†Confuciusornithidae
Genus:	†Jinzhouornis; Hou et al., 2002
Species
	J. yixianensis Hou et al., 2002 (type); J. zhangjiyingia Hou et al., 2002;

Jinzhouornis is a dubious genus of prehistoric birds. Their fossils have found in rocks of the Yixian Formation of Liaoning Province (PRC), dating from the Early Cretaceous (early Aptian, about 125 million years ago).

Two species have been named,^[1] but they are of doubtful validity. J. yixianensis is hardly distinct from the taxa the better-known genus Confuciusornis and was at least a very close relative. J. zhangjiyingia even appears to be a junior synonym of Confuciusornis sanctus. However, settling these questions would require a thorough restudy of the Jinzhouornis specimens, comparing them with the numerous and quite variable fossils of Confuciusornis.^[2]

Etymology

They are named after their locations of discovery. Jinzhouornis means "Jinzhou bird", from Jinzhou City (Yi County, Liaoning, where the type specimen of J. yixianensis was found) + Ancient Greek ornis (όρνις) "bird". yixianensis (Latin for "from Yixian") refers to the formation where it was found and which in turn was named for Yixian County. zhangjiyingia is Latin for "from Zhangjiying", a city near the type locality Heitizigou.

References

^ Hou, L.H, et. al (2002)
^ Mortimer, Michael (2002)

General

Hou, L. H.; Zhou, Z. H.; Zhang, F. C.; et al. (2002). Mesozoic Birds from Western Liaoning in China. Shenyang,China: Liaoning Science and Technology Publishing House. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laydate=, |separator=, |month=, |laysummary=, |chapterurl=, and |lastauthoramp= (help); Explicit use of et al. in: |last4= (help)
Mortimer, Michael (2002). "Phylogeny of taxa". The Theropod Database:. Retrieved 2 Mar 2013. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |month=, |dateformat=, and |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)

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[houetal2002-1] Hou, L.H, et. al (2002)

[2] Mortimer, Michael (2002)

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