Open AccessA new long‐tailed basal bird from the Lower Cretaceous of north‐eastern C hina
Author(s) -
Lefèvre Ulysse,
Hu Dongyu,
Escuillié François,
Dyke Gareth,
Godefroit Pascal
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
biological journal of the linnean society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.906
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1095-8312
pISSN - 0024-4066
DOI - 10.1111/bij.12343
Subject(s) - biology , paraphyly , yixian formation , cretaceous , sister group , cursorial , china , zoology , phylogenetic tree , taxon , paleontology , ecology , clade , mesozoic , archaeology , geography , biochemistry , structural basin , gene , predation
A new basal A vialae, Jeholornis curvipes sp. nov. , from the Y ixian F ormation (Lower Cretaceous) of L iaoning P rovince (north‐eastern C hina) is described. A revision of long‐tailed birds from C hina and a phylogenetic analysis of basal A vialae suggest that J eholornithiformes were paraphyletic, with J ixiangornis orientalis being the sister‐taxon of pygostylia. The phylogenetic analysis also recovered that the tail reduction is a unique event in the evolution of birds. J eholornis species were cursorial, nonperching, and seed‐eating birds. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2014, 113 , 790–804.