Zhongjianornis

Zhongjian's bird

• Zhongjian · Chinese (personal name) · Yang Zhongjian (C.C. Young), Chinese palaeontologist
• ornis · Greek · bird

The name honours Yang Zhongjian (C.C. Young), the founder of vertebrate palaeontology in China, combined with the Greek word for bird. It refers to an early, long-tailed bird from the Jehol Biota of northeastern China. The only named species is Zhongjianornis yangi.

Named by

Zhou et al.

Year named

2010

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stage

Aptian

Found in

Jiufotang Formation, Liaoning, China

A basal bird (avialan), so it counts as a dinosaur in the cladistic sense. Its exact position among early birds has been debated. Authorship, year and stage are given from memory and are worth checking.