Published January 31, 2016 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Bellulia rectusunguis Wang & Zhou & Zhou 2016, SP. NOV.

Description

Bellulia rectusunguis SP. NOV.

Holotype: IVPP V17970, a nearly complete and articulated skeleton with an aggregate of gastroliths in the abdominal region and feather traces preserved in a single slab, missing the skull (Figs 1, 2; Table 1).

Etymology: Species name is derived from the Latin words ‘rectus’ (straight) and ‘unguis’ (claw), referring to the barely curved manual claws characterizing this taxon.

Locality and horizon: Jianchang County, Liaoning Province, northeastern China; Lower Cretaceous, Jiufotang Formation (He et al., 2004).

Diagnosis: A large basal ornithuromorph bird that can be distinguished from other ornithuromorphs by the unique combination of the following features: V-shaped furcula with a short hypocleidium; sternum bearing elongated lateral trabecula with fan-shaped distal expansion; broad cranial margin of sternum with obtuse angle defined by coracoidal sulci of 113°; manual claws nearly straight; proximal ends of metatarsals II– IV coplanar; metatarsal IV robust (autapomorphy); hallucal ungual reduced; and intermebral index (humerus + ulna + carpometacarpus/

femur + tibiotarsus + tarsometatarsus) of 1.21.

Notes

Published as part of Wang, Min, Zhou, Zhonghe & Zhou, Shuang, 2016, A new basal ornithuromorph bird (Aves: Ornithothoraces) from the Early Cretaceous of China with implication for morphology of early Ornithuromorpha, pp. 207-223 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 176 (1) on pages 208-209, DOI: 10.1111/zoj.12302, http://zenodo.org/record/5353909

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Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

Collection code
IVPP
Scientific name authorship
Wang & Zhou & Zhou
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Genus
Bellulia
Species
rectusunguis
Taxon rank
species
Taxonomic status
sp. nov.
Type status
holotype
Taxonomic concept label
Bellulia rectusunguis Wang, Zhou & Zhou, 2016

References

  • He H-Y, Wang X-L, Zhou Z-H, Wang F, Boven A, Shi G-H, Zhu R-X. 2004. Timing of the Jiufotang Formation (Jehol Group) in Liaoning, northeastern China, and its implications. Geophysical Research Letters 31: L 12605.