Gobipteryx

Gobi wing

• Gobi · Mongolian · the Gobi Desert (place name)
• pteryx · Greek · wing

The name combines "Gobi", for the Gobi Desert of Mongolia where the fossils were found, with the Greek "pteryx", meaning wing or feather. It means "Gobi wing", marking it as a bird from the Gobi region. It was named by Elzanowski in 1974 from skull material found by Polish-Mongolian expeditions.

Named by

Elzanowski

Year named

1974

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Campanian

Found in

Barun Goyot Formation, Gobi Desert, Mongolia

Gobipteryx is an enantiornithine bird, a member of an extinct group of early birds. Birds are avian dinosaurs, so it counts as a dinosaur in the modern sense. It is notable for a toothless beak, which is unusual among Cretaceous birds. The type species is Gobipteryx minuta. The exact formation and stage are given with moderate confidence.