Gansus yumenensis, G. zheni
By Scott Reid on @drawingwithdinosaurs
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Name: Gansus yumenensis, G. zheni
Name Meaning: Gansu
Classification: Dinosauria, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae?
Gansus is one of the oldest known Ornithurans, or it’s close to the base of it - the group including modern birds and their closest relatives. So it’s either close to being an Ornithuran or the oldest known one, depending on who you talk to. Gansus lived in the Xiagou Formation of Gansu Province, China, living about 120 million years ago, in the Aptian age of the Early Cretaceous. It had a wingspan of 40 centimeters and a body length of about 24 centimeters, without the tail. It had large and powerful, broad wings, as well as a very strongly keeled breastbone, giving it the powerful flight abilities seen in modern birds.It had webbed feet and long legs with small claws, meaning that it was semiaquatic and was probably a foot-propelled swimming bird like modern grebes, albatross, and cormorants, though it also had excellent flight ability and was probably able to dive somewhat using both its feet and its wings. It probably, thus, lived in a freshwater environment, paddling along the lake and dipping for fish and invertebrates, using soaring to look for new sources of food. They were very common birds, and between them and other Ornithurans, they indicate that some of the earliest members of this group showed aquatic adaptations. They also were probably dark in color, based on the feather impressions known from the dinosaur.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gansus
Martyniuk, M. P. 2012. A Field Guide to Mesozoic Birds and other Winged Dinosaurs. Pan Aves; Vernon, New Jersey.
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