In Depth Apsaravis is a genus of bird that lived in Mongolia during the late Cretaceous. Apsaravis is noted for having a mix of both primitive and advanced features. Further Reading - Fossil that fills a critical gap in avian evolution. - Nature Vol. 409 11 January 2001 pp.181-184. - Mark A. Norell & Julia … Read more
In Depth The Schizooura holotype came from Jiufotang Formation of China, which is one of the fossil bearing Rock Formations that the more famous Confuciusornis came from. Schizooura had an unusual arrangement of tail feathers that gave the appearance of being split in two, hence the establishment of the genus name Schizooura which translates roughly … Read more
In Depth Further Reading - Extraordinary cranial specialization in a new genus of extinct duck (Aves: Anseriformes) from Kauai, Hawaiian Islands. - Zootaxa (Auckland, New Zealand: Magnolia Press) 2296: 47–67. - Andrew N. Iwaniuk, Storrs L. Olson & Helen F. James - 2009.
In Depth When originally found, the fossils of the Wood Harrier (Circus dossenus) were thought to be those of an Accipiter, a bird that belongs to the group more commonly known as goshawks and sparrowhawks. This was mainly because the bones and wing proportions seemed to match up best with the Accipiters, but further … Read more
In Depth Although only named from two leg bones, these are of such size that Heracles was a very large bird in life. Originally thought to belong to an eagle, the bones were later identified as belonging to a parrot. Although incomplete, comparing the bones to other parrot genera and scaling their bones to fit … Read more
In Depth Named in honour of the palaeontologist Jim Eyles, the Eyles’ Harrier is an extinct harrier, and one that grew to a particularly large size for the kind of bird of prey that it was. The Eyles’ Harrier is often considered to have been similar to the modern day Swamp Harrier (Circus approximans), … Read more
In Depth Andalgalornis has a more gracile build than many other South American ‘terror birds’ and this lightweight build is also reflected in the skull and beak. In depth analysis suggests that the beak was strongest when subjected to stresses from below rather than the sides. This meant that gripping and holding large prey was … Read more
In Depth Alamitornis was a late Cretaceous era bird that seemed to have been quite gracile in form. In the 2009 description it was also considered to possibly be related to Patagopteryx. Alamitornis would have likely shared the same habitats with dinosaurs such as the sauropod Aeolosaurus and the hadrosaur Secernosaurus. Further Reading - Fossil … Read more
In Depth Being one of the smallest members of the Phorusrhacidae, Psilopterus was no way near the scale of the larger phorusrhacids like Brontornis. However the exact size of Psilopterus is something that is hard to be certain about as not only do estimates depend upon the specific species, but there is an outside chance … Read more
In Depth Aviraptor is a genus of hawk that lived in Eastern Europe during the Oligocene period. Aviraptor is one of the smallest fossil hawks discovered being approximately comparable to the modern day little sparrowhawk (Accipiter minullus), and the Tiny hawk (Accipiter superciliosus). As a small hawk, Aviraptor would have primarily been a predator of … Read more