Schizooura

split tail

• schizo · Greek · split
• oura · Greek · tail

The name combines the Greek words for "split" and "tail". It refers to the tail of the fossil, whose long feather-bearing end (the pygostyle and its fan of feathers) has a distinctive forked or split shape. The only named species is Schizooura lii.

Named by

Zhou, Zhang and Li

Year named

2012

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stage

Aptian

Found in

Jiufotang Formation, Liaoning Province, China

Schizooura is an early bird (an ornithuromorph, close to the line leading to modern birds), not a large non-avian dinosaur. Birds are avian dinosaurs, so it counts as a dinosaur in the broad, cladistic sense. Details such as the exact stage are given from memory, so treat them with some caution.