Huoshanornis
hwoh-SHAN-OR-nis /hwoʊˌʃænˈɔːrnɪs/
Accepted genus
volcano bird
- huoshan · Chinese (Mandarin) · volcano (literally 'fire mountain')
- ornis · Greek · bird
The name combines the Mandarin word "huoshan", meaning volcano (literally "fire mountain"), with the Greek "ornis", meaning bird. It refers to the volcanic rocks of the Early Cretaceous deposits in northern China where the fossil was found. The type species is Huoshanornis huji.
- Period
- Early Cretaceous
- Found in
- Huajiying Formation, Hebei Province, China
Huoshanornis is an enantiornithine bird, a member of an extinct group of early birds. Birds are living dinosaurs, so it counts as a dinosaur in the modern sense. The author, year and exact stage are not given here because I am not certain of them.