Xinghaiornis

Xinghai bird

• Xinghai · Chinese · a place name, probably the Xinghai area of Dalian (uncertain)
• ornis · Greek · bird

The name combines "Xinghai", a Chinese place name, with the Greek word for bird. The first part is probably a reference to the Xinghai area of Dalian, Liaoning, but I'm not certain of that. The genus is based on a single known species, Xinghaiornis lini.

Named by

Wang et al.

Year named

2013

Period

Early Cretaceous

Found in

Liaoning Province, China (Jehol Biota)

Xinghaiornis is an early bird (an ornithuromorph), so it counts as an avian dinosaur, not a non-avian dinosaur. The etymology of "Xinghai", the exact formation and the stage are not firmly confirmed here, so those details are left out or hedged.