Protopteryx fengningensis
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Protopteryx Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 131 Ma |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | †Enantiornithes |
| Order: |
†Protopterygiformes Zhang & Zhou, 2006 |
| Family: |
†Protopterygidae Zhang & Zhou, 2006 |
| Genus: |
†Protopteryx Zhang & Zhou, 2000 |
| Species: | †P. fengningensis |
| Binomial name | |
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Protopteryx fengningensis Zhang & Zhou, 2000 |
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Protopteryx is an extinct genus of bird and the most primitive enantiornithine, from the Cretaceous period. The type species is P. fengningensis. It was first discovered in the Sichakou Member of the Yixian Formation of Hebei Province, northern China, dating from 131 Ma ago.Protopteryx has been found in the Daibeigou formation, as well. The name Protopteryx means "primitive feather": "proto-" meaning "the first of" and "-pteryx" meaning "feather" or "wing." The name comes from the fact that Protopteryx feathers have features of modern ones as well as of reptilian scales, such as the two elongated tail feathers that lack barbs and rami.
Protopteryx fossils show that they were roughly the same as a today's starling. The adult body length of the Protopteryx was about 10 centimetres (3.9 in), excluding the tail feathers. Protopteryx teeth were conical and unserrated, and some teeth had a resorption pit similar to those seen in Archaeopteryx. The body of the Protopteryx was covered in three types of feathers: down feathers, flight feathers, and long, ribbon-like tail feathers. The body was mostly covered in feathers of about 12 millimetres (0.47 in). The barbs of the down feathers were laminar instead of hairlike and were frayed at the tips. The most distinctive feature of the Protopteryx is that the tail consisted of two long feathers which only had barbs at their tips. Closer to the body, the long tail feathers were thin and needle-like. The only modern birds to share a feather type similar to the Protopteryx is the red bird-of-paradise. The tail feathers also lack rami on the proximal end of the tail.
Protopteryx is one of the most primitive known members of the group Enantiornithes. It appeared after Archaeopteryx, one of the most primitive birds, and Confuciusornis. Protopteryx is related to, but is more primitive than, the species Eocathayornis,Paraprotopteryx, and Confuciusornis
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