Iberomesornis

Iberian middle bird

• Ibero- · Latin · Iberia, i.e. the Iberian Peninsula (Spain)
• mesos · Greek · middle, intermediate
• ornis · Greek · bird

The name combines "Ibero-" (for the Iberian Peninsula, where the fossil was found), the Greek "mesos" (middle) and "ornis" (bird). It means "Iberian middle bird". It was chosen because this small early bird seemed to be at an intermediate stage of evolution between Archaeopteryx and later birds. The species name romerali honours Romeral, a person associated with the discovery.

Named by

Sanz and Bonaparte

Year named

1992

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stage

Barremian

Found in

La Huérguina Formation (Las Hoyas), Cuenca Province, Spain

Iberomesornis is an early enantiornithine bird, so it counts as an avian (bird) dinosaur. The type species is I. romerali. I am not sure who the species name honours, so treat that detail as unverified.