Enantiornithines

[i‚nan·tē′ȯrn·ə‚thēnz]

(vertebrate zoology)

Opposite birds, so called because their foot bones fuse in the opposite direction of modern birds, from the subclass Sauriuvae.

References in periodicals archive ?

It is thought that Enantiornithines became extinct during the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event about 66 million years ago, along with dinosaurs.

Scientist find bird foot with extremely long toe

Some of the birds that went extinct, the enantiornithines, were actually more common than and out-competed modern bird ancestors.

The 75-million-year-old fossil, from a bird about the size of a turkey vulture, is the most complete skeleton discovered in North America of what are called enantiornithines (pronounced en-an-tea-or'-neth-eens), or opposite birds.

Atterholt and Hutchison collaborated with Jingmai O'Conner, the leading expert on enantiornithines, to perform a detailed analysis of the fossil.

"What this new fossil shows is that enantiornithines, though totally separate from modern birds, evolved some of the same adaptations for highly refined, advanced flight styles."

The fossil's breast bone or sternum, where flight muscles attach, is more deeply keeled than other enantiornithines, implying a larger muscle and stronger flight more similar to modern birds.

If enantiornithines in the late Cretaceous were just as advanced as modern birds, however, why did they die out with the dinosaurs while the ancestors of modern birds did not?

"One of the really interesting and mysterious things about enantiornithines is that we find them throughout the Cretaceous, for roughly 100 million years of existence, and they were very successful.

Rare Fossil Bird: Mystery of Avian Extinctions

Species recorded (Iberomesornis romerali, Eoalulavis hoyasi and Concornis lacustris) have interpreted as being perching enantiornithines of reduced size with enhanced flight capabilities, allowing low speed flight and good manoeuverability (Sanz et al, 2000, 2002; Ortega et al, 1999).

A holistic approach to the palaeoecology of Las Hoyas Konservat-Lagerstatte (La Huerguina Formation, Lower Cretaceous, Iberian Ranges, Spain)/ Una aproximacion holistica a la palaeoecologia del Konservat-Lagerstatte de Las Hoyas (Formacion La Huerguina, Cretacico Inferior, Cordillera Iberica, Espana)

Scientists in north-east China dug up the remains of an unknown creature, which lived more than 124 million years ago and was part of the primitive bird group called enantiornithines.

Ancient birds 'had four wings'

The so-far unnamed creature, which lived between 124 million and 145 million years ago, belonged to an extinct group of primitive flying birds called the enantiornithines.

Strangeworld

The new species, which the Chinese paleontologists named Protopteryx fengningensis, is the most primitive known among the birds called enantiornithines. This group at one time included the majority of birds but became extinct by the end of the Cretaceous period 65 million years ago.