@ARTICLE{TreeBASE2Ref20976, author = {Dongyu Hu and Xing Xu and Lianhai Hou and Corwin Sullivan}, title = {A new enantiornithine bird from the Lower Cretaceous of Western Liaoning, China, and its implications for early avian evolution}, year = {2012}, keywords = {}, doi = {10.1080/02724634.2012.652321}, url = {http://www.graemetlloyd.com/matr.html}, pmid = {}, journal = {Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology}, volume = {32}, number = {3}, pages = {639--645}, abstract = {Recent studies have blurred the distinctness of two major avian groups: the Enantiornithes, amajor radiation of early birds in the Cretaceous, and the Ornithuromorpha, the clade including extant birds. Here we describe a new enantiornithine bird from the Lower Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation of western Liaoning, China, Xiangornis shenmi, gen. et sp. nov., which further reduces the morphological gap between the two groups. Xiangornis shenmi has several enantiornithine features, including a furcula with a significantly elongated hypocleidium, a coracoid with a convex lateral margin, and a minor metacarpal that extends further distally than the major metacarpal. However, it also possesses some derived ornithurine features, such as a short alular metacarpal (about one-sixth as long as the major metacarpal) that is completely fused to the majormetacarpal, a large extensor process on the alularmetacarpal, proximal and distal fusion between the minor and major metacarpals, and an inter metacarpal space positioned significantly distal to the alular metacarpal. This new find indicates that a carpometacarpal morphology similar to that seen in modern birds probably evolved independently in enantiornithines and appeared earlier than in Ornithuromorpha, and demonstrates that character evolution in early birds was more complex than previously believed.} }

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