Abavornis

ancestor bird (great-great-grandfather bird)

• abavus · Latin · great-great-grandfather, ancestor
• ornis · Greek · bird

The name combines the Latin "abavus" (a remote ancestor) with the Greek "ornis" (bird), so it means roughly "ancestor bird". It refers to this animal as an early member of the bird lineage. It is a small enantiornithine bird, a group of early birds that is now extinct.

Named by

Panteleyev

Year named

1998

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stages

Turonian – Coniacian

Found in

Bissekty Formation, Dzharakuduk, Kyzylkum Desert, Uzbekistan

Abavornis bonaparti is an enantiornithine bird. Birds are avian dinosaurs, so it counts as a dinosaur in the broad sense. It is known from fragmentary remains, mainly a coracoid. The etymology and the exact stage range come from memory and should be checked against the original description.