Sinornis

Chinese bird

• Sino- · Greek (Late Greek/Latinised) · China / Chinese
• ornis · Greek · bird

The name combines the Greek "Sino-", meaning China, with "ornis", meaning bird. It means "Chinese bird" and refers to the country where the fossil was found. It was one of the early Cretaceous birds described from China.

Named by

Sereno and Rao

Year named

1992

Period

Early Cretaceous

Found in

Northeastern China

Sinornis santensis is a small early enantiornithine bird. Birds are avian dinosaurs, so it counts as a dinosaur in the cladistic sense. I'm not certain of the exact formation or stage, so I left those out.