Ambiortiformes is a group of prehistoric ornithuromorph dinosaurs.

Ambiortiforms
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous-Late Cretaceous, 136–66 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: Avialae
Clade: Euornithes
Clade: Ambiortiformes
Kurochkin, 1982
Genera
Synonyms
  • Apsaraviformes Feduccia, 2014
  • Palintropiformes? Longrich, Tokaryk and Field, 2011

The first species to be included, Ambiortus dementjevi, lived sometime during the Barremian age between 136.4 and 125 million years ago[1] in today's Mongolia. A. dementjevi belongs to the Ornithuromorpha (the group containing modern birds but not enantiornithes), according to all published cladistic analyses. However, the exact position of the species within this group has been controversial. Most analyses have found it to be either an unresolved member of the Ornithurae, or a more primitive member of Ornithuromorpha. One 2006 study, for example, found it to be more primitive than Yanornis  but more advanced than Hongshanornis, or even a member of the specific group containing both Yanornis  and Yixianornis.[2]

The group includes at least Ambiortus and possibly the supposed close relative Apsaravis.[3] The results of a cladistic analysis published in 2011 indicate that Apsaravis and Palintropus are very closely related.[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ Holtz, Thomas R. Jr. (2012). Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages, Winter 2011 Appendix (PDF).
  2. ^ You, Lamanna, Harris, Chiappe, O'Connor, Ji, Lu, Yuan, Li, Zhang, Lacovara, Dodson and Ji, (2006). "A nearly modern amphibious bird from the Early Cretaceous of Northwestern China". Science, 312: 1640-1643.
  3. ^ O’Connor, J. K.; Zhang, Y.; Chiappe, L. M.; Meng, Q.; Quanguo, L.; Di, L. (2013). "A new enantiornithine from the Yixian Formation with the first recognized avian enamel specialization". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 33: 1–12. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.719176. S2CID 85261944.
  4. ^ Longrich, N.R., Tokaryk, T., and Field, D.J. (2011). "Mass extinction of birds at the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(37): 15253-15257. doi:10.1073/pnas.1110395108.