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

• Published in: 地质学报（英文版） Vol. 82; no. 6; pp. 1115 - 1123
• Main Authors: LI Jianjun, LI Zhiheng, ZHANG Yuguang, ZHOU Zhonghe, BAI Zhiqiang, ZHANG Lifu, BA Tuya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Natural History Museum,Beijing 100050,China%Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100044,China%Beijing Natural History Museum,Beijing 100050,China%School of Earth and Space Sciences,Peking University,Beijing 100871,China%Otog Field Museum of Geological Vestige,Otog Banner,Inner Mongolia 016100,China%Qab Dinosaur Museum,Otog Banner,Inner Mongolia 016108,China 2008; School of Earth and Space Sciences,Peking University,Beijing 100871,China
• Subjects: Inner Mongolia; Lower Cretaceous; Cathayornis; stratigraphy; Otog Banner
• ISSN: 1000-9515
• DOI: 10.3321/j.issn:1000-9515.2008.06.004

P5; 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.