Sinornis type locality (Cretaceous of China)

Also known as Meileyingzi; Chaoyang; Shengli Town

Where: Liaoning, China (41.3° N, 120.0° E: paleocoordinates 44.5° N, 120.2° E)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: 2 Member (Jiufotang Formation), Aptian (125.0 - 113.0 Ma)

• "Valanginian" based on pollen and spore assemblage, but changed to Aptian based on age of other Jiufotang collections reported later. Lamagou Bed = top of 2nd Member

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: lacustrine; lithified, fine-grained siliciclastic sediments

• "slabs of fine-grained freshwater lake sediment"

•The Jiufotang Formation mainly comprises lacustrine sandstones, shales, mudstones, and tuffs interbedded within the sediments (He et. al, 2004).

Size class: macrofossils

Preservation: adpression

Collection methods: Beijing Natural History Museum collection

•"discovered by one of the local farmers" according to Hou 2001

Primary reference: P. C. Sereno and C. Rao. 1992. Early evolution of avian flight and perching: new evidence from the Lower Cretaceous of China. Science 255:845-848 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 85285: authorized by John Alroy, entered by John Alroy on 09.12.2008

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• locality given only as "Chaoyoung county" by Sereno and Rao, but actually from Meileyingzi, Chaoyang, Chaoyang City" according to Hou 2001 ("Mesozoic Birds of China")

•bird is "associated with abundant fish (Lycoptera), insect, and plant remains" including a "pollen and spore assemblage"

Aves
 Enantiornithes -
Sinornis santensis n. gen. n. sp.
Sinornis santensis n. gen. n. sp. Sereno and Rao 1992 bird
Actinopteri
 Leptolepidiformes - Leptolepididae
Lycoptera sp. Müller 1847