Shuilingornis angelai Wang et al., 2024 (new genus and species)
(Type specimen of Shuilingornis angelai, from Wang et al., 2024)
Meaning of name: Shuilingornis = pretty and vivid [in Chinese] bird [in Greek]; angelai = for Piero Angela [Italian journalist who passed away in 2022]
Age: Early Cretaceous (Aptian), between 119–123 million years ago
Where found: Jiufotang Formation, Liaoning, China
How much is known: Nearly complete skeleton of one individual.
Notes: Shuilingornis was a euornithean, a group of usually flight-capable dinosaurs including modern birds and some of their closest extinct relatives. Phylogenetic analyses conducted by its describers suggest that Shuilingornis may have been closely related to Gansus, another euornithean from the similarly-aged Xiagou Formation of northwestern China that has features characteristic of a semi-aquatic, diving lifestyle. Shuilingornis was smaller and appears to have been less aquatically specialized than Gansus, which might indicate that this lineage of euornitheans adopted a wide range of ecological niches.
Reference: Wang, X., A. Cau, Y. Wang, M. Kundrát, G. Zhang, Y. Liu, and L.M. Chiappe. 2024. A new gansuid bird (Avialae, Euornithes) from the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) Jiufotang Formation of Jianchang, western Liaoning, China. Cretaceous Research advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2024.106014