Shengjingornis Explained

Shengjingornis is a genus of enantiornithean bird known from the Early Cretaceous of Jinzhou, western Liaoning, China. Its remains were discovered in Jiufotang Formation deposits, dated to 120 million years ago.^[1]

Shengjingornis is considerably larger when compared to other longipterygids; combined with its poorly-preserved skull and bizarre claw and digit anatomy similar to both those of birds of prey and ground birds, its lifestyle is unclear.^[2]

Notes and References

1. Li Li. Wang Jinqi. Zhang Xi. Hou Shilin. amp . 2012 . A New Enantiornithine Bird from the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation in Jinzhou Area, Western Liaoning Province, China . Acta Geologica Sinica . 86 . 5 . 1039–1044 . 10.1111/j.1755-6724.2012.00729.x. 129497987 .
2. 10.1186/s12915-022-01294-3 . Diet of Mesozoic toothed birds (Longipterygidae) inferred from quantitative analysis of extant avian diet proxies . 2022 . Miller . Case Vincent . Pittman . Michael . Wang . Xiaoli . Zheng . Xiaoting . Bright . Jen A. . BMC Biology . 20 . 1 . 101 . 35550084 . 9097364 . free .