Vorona

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

Vorona Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	Theropoda
Clade:	Avialae
Clade:	Ornithothoraces
Genus:	†Vorona Forster et al., 1996
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)