C. sanctus fossil preserving long wing and tail feathers, Natural History Museum, Vienna
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Clade:
Dinosauria
Clade:
Saurischia
Clade:
Theropoda
Clade:
Avialae
Family:
†Confuciusornithidae
Genus:
†Confuciusornis Hou et al., 1995
Type species
†Confuciusornis sanctus
Hou et al., 1995
Other species
†C. dui Hou et al., 1999
†C. feducciai Zhang et al., 2009
†C. jianchangensis Li et al., 2010
†C. shifan Wang et al., 2022[1]
Synonyms
Genus synonymy
Jinzhouornis Hou et al. 2002
Species synonymy (C. sanctus)
C. suniae Hou, 1997
C. chuonzhous Hou 1997
Jinzhouornis yixianensis Hou et al., 2002
Jinzhouornis zhangjiyingia Hou et al., 2002
Confuciusornis is a genus of basal crow-sized avialan from the Early Cretaceous Period of the Yixian and Jiufotang Formations of China, dating from 125 to 120 million years ago. Like modern birds, Confuciusornis had a toothless beak, but closer and later relatives of modern birds such as Hesperornis and Ichthyornis were toothed, indicating that the loss of teeth occurred convergently in Confuciusornis and living birds. It was thought to be the oldest known bird to have a beak,[2] though this title now belongs to an earlier relative Eoconfuciusornis.[3] It was named after the Chinese moral philosopher Confucius (551–479 BC). Confuciusornis is one of the most abundant vertebrates found in the Yixian Formation, and several hundred complete specimens have been found.[4]
^Wang R, Hu D, Zhang M, Wang S, Zhao Q, Sullivan C, Xu X (2022). "A new confuciusornithid bird with a secondary epiphyseal ossification reveals phylogenetic changes in confuciusornithid flight mode". Communications Biology. 5 (1). 1398. doi:10.1038/s42003-022-04316-6. PMC 9772404. PMID 36543908.
^Ivanov, M., Hrdlickova, S. & Gregorova, R. (2001) The Complete Encyclopedia of Fossils. Rebo Publishers, Netherlands. pp. 312
^Xiaoting Zheng; Jingmai K. O'Connor; Xiaoli Wang; Yanhong Pan; Yan Wang; Min Wang; Zhonghe Zhou (2017). "Exceptional preservation of soft tissue in a new specimen of Eoconfuciusornis and its biological implications". National Science Review. 4 (3): 441–452. doi:10.1093/nsr/nwx004.
^Xu, X.; Norell, M.A. (2006). "Non-Avian dinosaur fossils from the Lower Cretaceous Jehol Group of western Liaoning, China". Geological Journal. 41 (3–4): 419–437. doi:10.1002/gj.1044. S2CID 32369205.
within a species.: 50 In the case of Confuciusornis, only C. sanctus is universally accepted. Confuciusornis chuonzhous was named by Hou in 1997 based...
pheomelanosomes preserved in a specimen of Confuciusornis, (IVPP V13171). This suggested that Confuciusornis had hues of grey, red/brown and black. This...
paper in which they analysed the rachises of the primary feathers of Confuciusornis and Archaeopteryx. The analysis suggested that the rachises on these...
sometimes 2–4 central "streamers" such as those found in some specimens of Confuciusornis or in Paraprotopteryx. By contrast, the function of the pygostyle in...
clade Avialae. In this sense, protobirds would include animals like Confuciusornis, Sapeornis, and the Enantiornithes. These animals were small, flying...
Changchengornis might indicate a diet different from that of Confuciusornis. However, of Confuciusornis itself it is contested whether it were a fish eater, an...
non-crown group primitive birds like Archaeopteryx, Hesperornis and Confuciusornis, therefore, pan-group birds would include all dinosaurs and pterosaurs...
preserved feather impressions. The analyzed fossil taxa consisted of Confuciusornis, Beipiaosaurus, Microraptor and Sinornithosaurus. For Beipiaosaurus...
"Life history of a basal bird: morphometrics of the Early Cretaceous Confuciusornis". Biology Letters. 4 (6): 719–723. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2008.0409. PMC 2614169...
of the largest animals to ever fly, lived during the Late Cretaceous Confuciusornis, a genus of crow-sized birds from the Early Cretaceous Ichthyornis was...
Wang (2024). A morphometric study of a large sample of specimens of Confuciusornis sanctus is published by Zhou et al. (2024), who interpret their findings...
Confuciusornithidae was first named by Hou et al. in 1995 to contain the type genus, Confuciusornis, and assigned to the monotypic clade Confuciusornithiformes within the...
from the feathers of the dinosaur Sinornithosaurus and the early bird Confuciusornis. This confirms that ancient feathers had a composition similar to that...
Elasmosaurus Olivia Hamilton as Lily Lambeosaurus Phil Hayes as Chung Confuciusornis, King Cryolophosaurus Maryke Hendrikse as Penelope Protoceratops Ryan...
combines a Greek ἠώς, eos, "dawn", with the name of the related genus Confuciusornis. The specific name honours Zheng Guangmei. The holotype, specimen IVPP...
in honor of the locality, but it appears to be a junior synonym of Confuciusornis which was found in the same formation some years earlier. Jinzhou has...
province) is a Chinese palaeontologist. He described the ancient bird Confuciusornis. Zhou graduated from Nanjing University and earned a Ph.D. in Biology...
Weishampel et al. (1991) Csiki & Grigorescu (1998) Most of these - like Confuciusornis or Enantiornithes - are only known since the late 20th century. Naish...
reduced to a pygostyle and the tail function taken over by feathers. Confuciusornis is an example of their trend. While keeping the clawed fingers, perhaps...
of Psittacosaurus, an early ancestor of Triceratops, and a complete Confuciusornis, a relative of both the raptor-like dinosaurs and modern birds. Rare...
The most primitive known bird relative with a keeled breastbone is Confuciusornis. While some specimens of this stem-bird have flat breastbones, some...
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