Laornis

stone bird

• laas / laos · Greek · stone
• ornis · Greek · bird

Laornis combines the Greek words 'laas' (stone) and 'ornis' (bird), meaning 'stone bird'. The name alludes to the fossil, stony nature of the specimen. It was named by Edward Drinker Cope in 1875 based on fragmentary remains from the Late Cretaceous of New Jersey.

Named by

Cope

Year named

1875

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Maastrichtian

Found in

New Jersey, USA

Laornis edvardsianus is considered a nomen dubium because it is based on very fragmentary material (a partial tibiotarsus) that is insufficient to reliably diagnose the genus. It is a bird (avian dinosaur) rather than a non-avian dinosaur, and belongs to the broad group of Cretaceous birds. Some sources have questioned whether it is even a bird, though Cope described it as such.