Vorona (/ˈvʊəruːnə/ VOOR-oo-nə; Malagasy for "bird",[clarification needed] V. berivotrensis, "from Berivotra") is a monotypic genus of prehistoric birds. It was described from fossils found in a Maevarano Formation quarry near the village of Berivotra, Mahajanga Province, Madagascar. The age of the fossilised specimen is Late Cretaceous, probably Maastrichtian (72.1-66.0 mya). V. berivotrensis is known from scattered remains, possibly from a single individual (UA 8651 and FMNH PA715).[citation needed]
| Vorona Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Clade: | Avialae |
| Clade: | Ornithothoraces |
| Genus: | †Vorona Forster et al., 1996 |
| Species: | †V. berivotrensis
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| Binomial name | |
| †Vorona berivotrensis Forster et al., 1996
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The phylogenic affinity of Vorona is hard to determine due to the fragmentary nature of the remains, mainly because the fossil shows a mix of basal avian features as well as some that seem very derived. Vorona might be a primitive ornithuromorph. At least two studies recovered it as part of Enantiornithes, however.[1][2]
Vorona is sometimes confused with the dromaeosaur Rahonavis ostromi, a fossil of which was found in the same location. This confusion has led to the common misconception that Vorona had a deinonychosaur-like sickle claw on each foot.[citation needed]
References
edit- ^ Pei, Rui; Pittman, Michael; Goloboff, Pablo A.; Dececchi, T. Alexander; Habib, Michael B.; Kaye, Thomas G.; Larsson, Hans C.E.; Norell, Mark A.; Brusatte, Stephen L.; Xu, Xing (August 2020). "Potential for Powered Flight Neared by Most Close Avialan Relatives, but Few Crossed Its Thresholds". Current Biology. 30 (20): 4033–4046.e8. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2020.06.105. hdl:11336/143103. PMID 32763170.
- ^ Hartman, Scott; Mortimer, Mickey; Wahl, William R.; Lomax, Dean R.; Lippincott, Jessica; Lovelace, David M. (10 July 2019). "A new paravian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of North America supports a late acquisition of avian flight". PeerJ. 7: e7247. doi:10.7717/peerj.7247. PMC 6626525. PMID 31333906.
Further reading
edit- Forster, Catherine A.; Chiappe, Luis M.; Krause, David W.; Sampson, Scott D. (August 1996). "The first Cretaceous bird from Madagascar". Nature. 382 (6591): 532–534. doi:10.1038/382532a0. S2CID 4364184.
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