Asteriornis Temporal range: Late Maastrichtian
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Skull in lateral view | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Infraclass: | Neognathae |
Clade: | Pangalloanserae |
Genus: | †Asteriornis Field et al. 2020 |
Type species | |
†Asteriornis maastrichtensis Field et al. 2020
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Asteriornis is an extinct genus of bird from the Upper Cretaceous of Belgium. It is known from a single species called Asteriornis maastrichtensis.[1]
It was closely related to birds of the living superorder Galloanserae, such as chickens and ducks. Members of the genus were small, long-legged birds (~394 g).[2]
They lived near the coastline with more "primitive" types of birds such as Ichthyornis. Asteriornis is one of the oldest-known birds: it definitely belongs to the group Neornithes, the modern birds.
It has features of both galliformes (chicken-like birds) and anseriformes (duck-like birds). This shows its position as a close relative of the last common ancestor for both groups.[3]
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