#qiliania

[phoenixiancrystallist]

Forspoken Photo Dump 167: Visoria; Northern Corridor, Part 2

[tinylongwing]

Bird ABCs continued:

P: Pacific Kingfisher

Q: Qiliania (an extinct member of Enantiornithes)

R: Red Crossbill (female)

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Qiliania graffini

By Jack Wood on @thewoodparable

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Name: Qiliania graffini

Name Meaning: Heaven

First Described: 2011

Described By: Ji et al. 

Classification: Dinosauria, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Enantiornithes

Qiliania is an Enantiornithine from the Xiagou Formation of Gansu, China, living about 120 million years ago in the Aptian age of the Early Cretaceous. It is known from two incomplete skeletons that still preserved a bit of detail. It had a body length of about 20 centimeters, and it had long and slender legs with large first toes and small fourth toes. It had needle like claws with weak curvature and fused hip bones. These physiological characteristics indicate that it foraged on the ground as well as in the trees, similar to a dove or a cuckoo. It lived in a freshwater lake system in the middle of a large basin. 

Sources:

Martyniuk, M. P. 2012. A Field Guide to Mesozoic Birds and other Winged Dinosaurs. Pan Aves; Vernon, New Jersey.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qiliania

Shout out goes to @hitchhikersguidetodoctorwho-blog!