Changchengornis

Changchengornis; Temporal range: Early Cretaceous (Barremian/Aptian)
Conservation status
	Fossil
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Family:	Confuciusornithidae
Genus:	Changchengornis
Species:	C. hengdaoziensis
Binomial name
	Changchengornis hengdaoziensis;

Changchengornis is a prehistoric bird genus from the Early Cretaceous. Its remains have been found in the PRC, in Chaomidianzi Formation rocks from around the Barremian-Aptian boundary, deposited 125 million years ago.

Apart from the holotype GMV-2129 - a somewhat damaged skeleton -, few if any material is available in scientific collections, though at least one specimen was put up for sale commercially^[1].

A single species, Changchengornis hengdaoziensis. It was a relative of the better-known Confuciusornis. Unlike that animal, Changchengornis had a beak that was slightly hooked at the tip, proportionally shorter, and higher^[2]. GMV-2129 also has two elongated, ribbon-like tail feathers as found in some Confuciusornis. There also was a head tuft or crest; at least the outline of its head must have borne an uncanny resemblance to today's Tauraco (turacos). Whether their hooked bill means that unlike Confuciusornis - probably an omnivore that at least occasionally caught fish -, Changchengornis fed on fruit is not known.

Footnotes

^ Cornish Crispa Co.: Fossil Bird (changchengornis hengdaoziensis) #01 [sic]. Version of 2004-DEC-24. Retrieved 2007-OCT-20.
^ Mortimer (2004)

References

Mortimer, Michael (2004): The Theropod Database: Phylogeny of taxa. Retrieved 2008-AUG-14.

External links

cornishcrispa.co.uk: Specimen photo
dinosaur.net.cn: Changchengornis hengdaoziensis [in Chinese]. Retrieved 2007-OCT-30.

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[1] Cornish Crispa Co.: Fossil Bird (changchengornis hengdaoziensis) #01 [sic]. Version of 2004-DEC-24. Retrieved 2007-OCT-20.

[2] Mortimer (2004)

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