Cranial osteology and palaeobiology of the Early Cretaceous bird Jeholornis prima (Aves: Jeholornithiformes)
Author
Hu, Han
Author
Wang, Yan
Author
Fabbri, Matteo
Author
O, Jingmai K.
Author
Connor
Author
Mcdonald, Paul G.
Author
Wroe, Stephen
Author
Yin, Xuwei
Author
Zheng, Xiaoting
Author
Zhou, Zhonghe
Author
Benson, Roger B. J.
text
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society
2023
2023-05-01
198
1
93
112
https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/198/1/93/6768673
journal article
10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac089
0024-4082
EMENDED
DIAGNOSIS
OF
J.
PRIMA
Based on the morphological study of this specimen, we provide the following revised diagnosis for
J. prima
. A large stem bird with the following combination of features: premaxilla edentulous with short maxillary process; two teeth with blunt crowns in maxilla and three relatively smaller teeth in dentary (new); paired, sheet-like preorbital ossifications present near the nasals (new, autapomorphy); C-shaped lacrimal with short rostrodorsal ramus and lacrimal foramen (new); unreduced postorbital forming a complete postorbital bar with jugal (new); pterygoid rami of vomer much longer than the fused rostral portion, expanded in the middle and lacking the caudodorsal process (new); palatine with broad pterygoid wing and jugal process (new); narrow and restricted mandibular fenestra between prearticular and surangular (new); 27 caudal vertebrae in total, with the transition point occurring after the fifth vertebra; lateral trabecula of sternum absent; caudalmost pair of sternal ribs expanded; first phalanx of the third manual digit twice as long as the second phalanx; ratio of forelimb (humerus plus ulna plus carpometacarpus) to hindlimb (femur plus tibiotarsus plus tarsometatarsus) of ~1.2:1; dorsal margin of the ilium nearly straight and craniodorsal–caudoventrally oriented (modified from
Zhou & Zhang, 2002
;
O’Connor
et al.
, 2012
;
Zheng
et al.
, 2020
).