Sapeornis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sapeornis |
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| Fossil specimen, National Museum of Natural Science | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Sapeornis
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| Species: |
chaoyangensis
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| Synonyms | |
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Genus synonymy
Didactylornis Yuan, 2008
Shenshiornis Hu et al., 2010 Species synonymy
?Omnivoropteryx sinousaorum Czerkas & Ji, 2002
Sapeornis angustis Zhou & Zhang, 2009 Didactylornis jii Yuan, 2008 Shenshiornis primita Hu et al., 2010 |
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Sapeornis was an early type of bird that lived a very long time ago. It lived during a period called the Lower Cretaceous period. This was about 125 to 120 million years ago! Only one kind of Sapeornis is known, and it's called Sapeornis chaoyangensis.
Scientists have found many nearly complete skeletons of Sapeornis. These amazing fossils were discovered in rocks in People's Republic of China. They came from places known as the Jiufotang Formation and Yixian Formation.
Contents
What's in a Name?
The name Sapeornis has a special meaning. "SAPE" comes from the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution. This is a group of scientists who study ancient birds. The second part, "ornis", is an Ancient Greek word that means "bird".
The second part of its name, chaoyangensis, tells us where it was found. It's a Latin word that means "from Chaoyang". Chaoyang is a city in China, near where the fossils were discovered.
What Did Sapeornis Look Like?
Sapeornis was about 30 to 33 centimeters long. That's about the size of a pigeon or a small crow! Its skull had a few teeth, but only at the very tip of its upper jaw.
Scientists have also found a single tail feather on one of the fossil skeletons. This helps them learn more about how it might have looked.
How Did Sapeornis Fly?
Scientists believe Sapeornis might have been a glider or a soarer. This means it probably used air currents to glide through the sky. It might not have flapped its wings a lot like modern birds do. Instead, it would have used its wings to catch the wind and stay in the air.
Images for kids
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Size of S. chaoyangensis compared with a human
See also
In Spanish: Sapeornis para niños
