Proornis

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"Proornis" Fossil range: Early Cretaceous
Conservation status
Extinct (fossil)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Family: Confuciusornithidae Genus: "Proornis" Lim 1993 fide Pak & Kim, 1996 Species: "P. coreae"
Binomial name
"Proornis coreae"

"Proornis" is an extinct genus of basal bird from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian? 130-125 mya) of North Korea. Since it was apparently never formally described, the genus is considered a nomen nudum and thus not italicized^{[verification needed]}. A single species Proornis coreae^[1] is known.

Fossil remains of this animal, discovered in 1993 in Sinuiju series deposits at Sinuiju-si, consist of a skull, a few cervical vertebrae and a forelimb with feathers. It was originally thought to be a close relative of Archaeopteryx, but new analysis suggests it is more closely related to Confuciusornis^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] References

• http://www.users.qwest.net/~jstweet1/maniraptora.htm
• Lee, Yuong-Nam, Kang-Min Yu, and Craig B. Wood 2001. "A review of vertebrate faunas from the Gyeongsang Supergroup (Cretaceous) in South Korea", Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 165: 357-373.
• Pak and Kim, 1996. Mesozoic Era. In: Geology of Korea.

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ Etymology: Proornis coreae, "Korean bird-forerunner"; Proornis, from Ancient Greek pro-, "before" and ornis, "bird". coreae, Latinization of "Korea".