Aurornis

Aurornis Temporal range: Late Jurassic, 160 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Life restoration
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	Theropoda
Family:	†Anchiornithidae
Genus:	†Aurornis Godefroit et al., 2013
Type species
†Aurornis xui Godefroit et al., 2013

Aurornis is a genus of dinobird from later Jurassic or the Lower Cretaceous. It lived in what is now China. Aurornis xui may be the most basal ("primitive") bird species known to date.^[1] Aurornis was discovered in 2013. The animal may predate the famous Archaeopteryx lithographica, the earliest bird, by about 10 million years.^[1][2]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Ian Sample (29 May 2013). "Early bird called Dawn beat Archaeopteryx to worm by 10m years". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
2. ↑ Cite error: The named reference AurornisNature was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).