Sapeornis
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Sapeornis Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 124.5–120 Ma |
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| Fossil specimen, Hong Kong Science Museum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Avebrevicauda |
| Family: | †Omnivoropterygidae |
| Genus: |
†Sapeornis Zhou & Zhang, 2002 |
| Species: | †S. chaoyangensis |
| Binomial name | |
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Sapeornis chaoyangensis Zhou & Zhang, 2002 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Sapeornis is a genus of primitive avialans which lived during the Early Cretaceous (late Aptian to early Albian, roughly 125-120 mya). The genus contains only the species Sapeornis chaoyangensis which is known from fossils found in Jiufotang Formation and Yixian Formation rocks in the People's Republic of China. Several nearly complete skeletons have been found.
Sapeornis is named for SAPE, the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution, added to the Ancient Greek όρνις (ornis), meaning "bird". chaoyangensis is Latin for "from Chaoyang". In 2013, Lü Junchang and others considered Shenshiornis primita, Didactylornis jii and Sapeornis angustis as synonyms of Sapeornis chaoyangensis.
This animal was about 30–33 cm long in life, excluding the tail feathers. From its general morphology and some peculiar similarities with oviraptorosaurs such as Caudipteryx, it is usually considered to be fairly close to Omnivoropteryx.
The hand of Sapeornis was far more advanced than that of Archaeopteryx. It had three fingers, the outer ones with two and the middle one with three phalanges, and a well-fused carpometacarpus. Its arms were about half again as long as the legs, suggesting a large wing area. On the other hand, its shoulder girdle was apparently ill-adapted to flapping flight and its furcula was unusual, with a hypocleidum similar to more advanced avialans but a general anatomy even more primitive than in Archaeopteryx. The humerus was large and bore holes, apparently to save weight, as in the Confuciusornithidae.
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