Iberomesornis
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| Iberomesornis romeralli Sanz & J. Bonaparte, 1992 |
Iberomesornis ("Spanish intermediate bird") is a monotypic genus of enantiornithine bird, discovered in the Early Cretaceous Las Hoyas deposits of Spain. 120 million years ago. This formation was once a forest surrounding a lake. Iberomesornis romeralli was more advanced physically than Archaeopteryx. The vertebrate column ends in a pygostyle: a splint of bone made of fused tail vertabrae that supports the tail feathers. Its wings still sported claws, but the thumb claw was reduced.
Iberomesornis was quite small - growing to a wingspan of 20 centimeters and weighing 2 ounces. Overall it was no bigger than a modern goldfinch. Since the skull is not known intact, its diet remains a subject of guesswork. Possibly this bird ate insects and aquatic crustaceans.
[edit] References
- Sanz, J. L. & Bonaparte, José F. (1992): A New Order of Birds (Class Aves) from the Lower Cretaceous of Spain. In: Jonathan J. Becker (ed.): Papers in Avian Paleontology Honoring Pierce Brodkorb. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Contributions in Science 36: 38-49.
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