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Re: Yuanmousaurus, Sonidosaurus &Dapingfangornis was Re: Some Asian papers



Dapingfangornis sentisorhinus
Enantionithine birds are the most blooming branch of early birds and have distinct diversities. A
large number of enantionithine birds have been reported from the Early Cretaceous Jiufotang
Formation in western Liaoning, China. Recently, we discovered a new eoenantiornithid bird from the
Jiufotang Formation in Dapingfang Town, western Liaoning. A new eoenantiornithid bird,
Dapingfangornis sentisorhinus gen. et sp. nov., is erected based on this complete skeleton with a
skull. The new bird is distinguished f...

...rom other known Mesozoic birds in a medium to small size, a distinct thorn-like process on the nasals, a sternum with a long and a short lateral processes. The thorn-like process on the nasal has not been discovered among known fossil birds, thus the discovery also provides new materials on the diversities of early birds."


That process looks a lot like an artifact of disarticulation.

It's a pity the photos are _so_ bad. No resolution worth mention.

Two *Confuciusornis*-style tail feathers are present. The general shape of the skull looks like *Longipteryx* (but see above!). There are at least 8 sacral vertebrae, so it probably belongs to Ornithothoraces, but the evidence for it belonging into Enantiornithes seems to be limited to: "*Dapingfangornis* described in this paper is similar to Eoenantioronis from the *Confuciusornis* fauna in morphology (Hou and Chen, 1999), such as the short skull, larger nasals and similar sternum, and so it is assigned to Eoenantiornithiformes." Various plesiomorphies are compatible with this, but it goes without saying that I'm not convinced... On the other hand, it could be a synonym of something already described. I guess *Longipteryx* is a candidate -- it is not mentioned in the paper at all.

"Recently, from Shangheshou of Chaoyang County to Dapingfang, *Confuciusornis* birds were found from the middle to lower part of the Jiufotang Formation."

Oho!

"All these indicate that the Jiufotang Formation and the underlyingYixian Formation belong to a continuous deposit."

Why?