Wyleyia

Wyleyia
Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 138 Ma
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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: Avialae
Clade: Euornithes
Genus: †Wyleyia
Harrison & Walker, 1973
Species:
†W. valdensis
Binomial name
†Wyleyia valdensis
Harrison & Walker, 1973

Wyleyia is an extinct genus of birds, containing a single species, Wyleyia valdensis, known from the early Cretaceous period of Sussex, England. The genus is known from a single specimen, a damaged right humerus. It was named to honor J. F. Wyley, who found the specimen in Weald Clay deposits of Henfield in Sussex (England). The specific name valdensis means "from the Weald".

The bone was found in the Hastings Beds, a series of Valanginian deposits,[1] dated to between 140 and 136 million years ago.[2]

Formerly believed to be from a non-avialan coelurosaur, it is now generally accepted as an early bird, although its exact systematic position is unresolved. It has been proposed to be an enantiornithine or an early neornithine palaeognathe. C.J.O. Harrison and C.A. Walker found it "advisable to consider the new genus incertae sedis until further evidence of affinity is forthcoming."[3]

Distribution

Wyleyia may have lived in dense forests in trees where females would make their nests and raise their eggs; where many food sources like insects and fruit such as berries are available.

Diet

Wyleyia may have been insectivorous, eating as many insects it could find. They included ants and a lot more.

Characteristics

Wyleyia may have been around the same size as the common sparrow, with males being larger than most female specimens.

References

  1. ^ Vickaryous, M.K.; Maryańska, T.; Weishampel, D.B. (2004). Weishampel, D. B.; Dodson, P.; Osmólska, H. (eds.). The Dinosauria (Second ed.). University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
  2. ^ Gradstein, F.M.; Ogg, J.G. & Smith, A.G.; (2004): A Geologic Time Scale 2004, Cambridge University Press.
  3. ^ Harrison, C.J.O. and Walker, C.A. (1973): Wyleyia: a new bird humerus from the Lower Cretaceous of England. Palaeontology 16(4): 721-728. PDF fulltext