Alamitornis

Los Alamitos bird

• Alamitos · Spanish (place name) · Los Alamitos Formation, the rock unit where it was found
• ornis · Greek · bird

The name combines "Alamitos", for the Los Alamitos Formation in Argentina where the fossils were found, with the Greek word for "bird". It therefore means roughly "bird from Los Alamitos". The type species is Alamitornis minutus.

Named by

Agnolin and Martinelli

Year named

2009

Period

Late Cretaceous

Found in

Los Alamitos Formation, Río Negro Province, Argentina

A small, early bird known from fragmentary remains. Birds are living dinosaurs, so it counts as a dinosaur in the cladistic sense, but it is not a non-avian dinosaur. Its exact position within early birds is debated. I am less sure of the finer details of its classification and age than of the name's origin.