Qianshanornis

Qianshanornis Temporal range: Late Paleocene PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Cariamae
Genus:	†Qianshanornis Mayr et al. 2013
Type species
†Qianshanornis rapax Mayr et al. 2013

Qianshanornis is an extinct genus of bird from the Paleocene of China. Part of Cariamiformes, it is the first (chronologically and otherwise) member of this group to have been found in Asia. It is very similar to the posterior Strigogyps, but it differs in possessing an hyperextensible second toe, forming a claw similar to that of deinonychosaur dinosaurs. Bearing superior flight capacities than those of modern seriemas, it was in life a bird probably occupying an ecological niche akin to that of modern birds of prey.^[1]

References

1. G. Mayr, J. Yang, E. Bast, C.-S. Li, and T. Smith. 2013. A Strigogyps-like bird from the middle Paleocene of China with an unusual grasping foot. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33(4):895-901