Intiornis


Intiornis is an extinct genus of avisaurid enantiornithean birds which existed in what is now North-West Argentina during the late Cretaceous period.

Description

The genus is known from a partial hind limb found in beds of the Upper Cretaceous Las Curtiembres Formation. Three primary toes on a limb of Intiornis are nearly the same length. It was named by Fernando Emilio Novas, Federico Lisandro Agnolín and Carlos Agustín Scanferla in 2010, and the type species is Intiornis inexpectatus. With the body length of around Intiornis was the size of a sparrow, thus representing the smallest enantiornithes known from South America. Its closest relative was Soroavisaurus from the Lecho Formation of northwestern Argentina.

Phylogeny

The cladogram below is from Wang et al., 2022:
Key to letters:
b = Boluochia
c = Cathayornis
e = Enantiophoenix
f = Houornis
h = Longipteryx
i = Parabohaiornis
j = Pterygornis
l = Vorona
m = Yuanjiawaornis
n = ''Yungavolucris''

Paleobiology

Long toes of equal length and large curved claws suggest adaptability for perching.