Yanornis guozhangi, new bird from Yixian in China (free pdf)

[Ben Creisler <bcreisler@gmail.com>]

From: Ben Creisler
bcreisler@gmail.com

A new paper available online. The pdf can be dowloaded from the
abstract page. The main text is in Chinese.

WANG Xu-Ri , JI Qiang,  TENG Fang-Fang  & JIN Ke-Mo (2013)
A new species of Yanornis (Aves: Ornithurae) from the Lower Cretaceous
strata of Yixian, Liaoning Province.
Geological Bulletin of China 32(4):601-606
http://dzhtb.cgs.cn/ch/reader/view_abstract.aspx?file_no=20130408&flag=1

A nearly complete specimen of Yanornis was recently discovered from
the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation at Yixian, Jinzhou City,
Liaoning Province. This specimen shows typical characteristics of
Yanornis, such as the straight dentary, about 2/3 the length of skull,
with about 20 teeth on each side. The cervicals are long and
heterocoelous. The synsacrum is composed of 9 sacrals. The length
ratio of forelimb to hindlimb is about 1.1. The proximal pedal
phalanges are longer and more robust than the distal ones. However,
the new specimen is different from the type species-Yanornis martini,
by having the following unique characteristics: the humerus has a
large and strong deltoid crest, which is almost half the length of the
shaft. The pubic symphysis is short, with the same length as the
pygostyle, and is less than 1/6 the length of the pubis. The fibular
is long, about 4/5 the length of femur and 2/3 the length of the
tibiotarsus. The tarsometatarsus is short and completely fused, less
than half the length of the tibiotarsus. This specimen can be erected
as a new species of Yanornis-Yanornis guozhangi sp. nov., on the basis
of its unique characteristics and a comparison with Yixianornis
grabaui, Songlingornis linghensis and Yanornis martini. It is notable
that three fish fossils were preserved along the neck of Yanornis
guozhangi sp. nov., which provides important information for studying
the living habit and growth pattern of Yanornis.