Yixianornis

Yixian bird

• Yixian · Chinese (place name) · Yixian, the county in Liaoning, China, that also gives its name to the Yixian Formation
• ornis · Greek · bird

The name combines Yixian, the county in Liaoning Province, China, with the Greek word "ornis", meaning "bird". It refers to the Yixian area, which is famous for its Early Cretaceous feathered fossils. The name is "bird from Yixian".

Named by

Zhou and Zhang

Year named

2001

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stage

Aptian

Found in

Jiufotang Formation, Liaoning, China

Yixianornis is an early ornithuromorph bird. Birds are avian dinosaurs, so it counts as a dinosaur in the modern sense. The type species is Yixianornis grabaui. It was a small, toothed bird with a pygostyle and a fan of tail feathers. Despite the name, the fossils come from the Jiufotang Formation, which is slightly younger than the Yixian Formation.