A New Species of Cathayornis from the Lower Cretaceous of Inner Mongolia, China and Its Stratigraphic Significance

• Published in: Acta geologica Sinica (Beijing) Vol. 82; no. 6; pp. 1115 - 1123
• Main Authors: Jianjun, LI, Zhiheng, LI, Yuguang, ZHANG, Zhonghe, ZHOU, Zhiqiang, BAI, Lifu, ZHANG, Tuya, BA
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.12.2008
• Subjects: Cathayornis; Inner Mongolia; Lower Cretaceous; Otog Banner; stratigraphy; 内蒙古; 华夏植物群系; 地层学; 早白垩世
• ISSN: 1000-9515; 1755-6724
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1755-6724.2008.tb00711.x

An incomplete postcranial avian skeleton is described from the Lower Cretaceous Jingchuan Formation of Otog Banner of western Inner Mongolia and referred to a new species of Cathayornis, C. chabuensis sp. nov. This is the first report of a Cathayornis from outside Liaoning Province. The new discovery indicates that Cathayornis coexisted with Otogornis genghisi, and a more detailed comparison between these two enantiornithine genera shows that Otogornis represents a more primitive genus than Cathayornis. Our analyses further indicate that Cathayornis is an arboreal bird. The discovery of a Cathayornis from this region also confirms that the avian fossil-bearing Jingchuan Formation is comparable to the Jiufotang Formation of the upper Jehol Group in western Liaoning, and should be referred to the middle-late Early Cretaceous.