Genus
Valid Extinct

Baminornis

Chen et al. 2025

Baminornis is an extinct genus of basal avialan known from the Late Jurassic Nanyuan Formation of China. The genus contains a single species, Baminornis zhenghensis, known from a partial skeleton. Baminornis was initially identified as the oldest known avialan to bear a fused pygostyle, but later research cast doubt on the identification of this structure, claiming it could instead be part of the synsacrum.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
1
Group
Dinosaures
Carnivore Ground dwelling, solitary Terrestrial
Baminornis
click to enlarge
Baminornis is the oldest known bird with a fused pygostyle, a skeletal feature that implies tail feathers. Its discovery pushed back current understanding of bird evolution and global distribution by 20 million years. Baminornis was about 15 cm in length, had many features in common with modern birds, including the capability for powered flight. © TotalDino · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
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Theropoda Unranked clade
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Neotheropoda Unranked clade
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Averostra Unranked clade
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Tetanurae Unranked clade
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Coelurosauria Unranked clade
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Maniraptora Unranked clade
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Avialae Unranked clade
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Baminornis Genus
Fossil sites 1 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇨🇳 China
1
Geological formations
Nanyuan
1
Temporal distribution
Tithonian (149.2–143.1 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Baminornis zhenghensis 152 Ma
Images 1
Bibliography
Original description
R. Chen, M. Wang, and L. Dong, G. Zhou, X. Xu, K. Deng, L. Xu, C. Zhang, L. Wang, H. Du, G. Lin, M. Lin, Z. Zhou. 2025. Earliest short-tailed bird from the Late Jurassic of China. Nature 638(8050):441-448 DOI ↗
Bibliography (1)
R. Chen, M. Wang, and L. Dong, G. Zhou, X. Xu, K. Deng, L. Xu, C. Zhang, L. Wang, H. Du, G. Lin, M. Lin, Z. Zhou. 2025. Earliest short-tailed bird from the Late Jurassic of China. Nature 638(8050):441-448 DOI ↗