| Avisaurus | |
|---|---|
| |
| An artist's illustration of Avisaurus archibaldi | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Avisauridae |
| Genus: | †Avisaurus Brett-Surman & Paul, 1985 |
| Type species | |
| †Avisaurus archibaldis Brett-Surman & Paul, 1985 | |
| Referred species | |
| |
Avisaurus (meaning "bird lizard") is a genus of Enantiornithine bird from the Late Cretaceous of North America.
Description[]
Both species of Avisaurus are known from the humid low-lying swamps, lakes, and river basins of the western shore of the Western Interior Seaway, and from the much more arid uplands between that area and the Cordilleran Overthrust Belt which eventually formed the Rocky Mountains. This genus belongs to the enantiornithine family Avisauridae, which also contains similar animals from South America such as Soroavisaurus and Neuquenornis In the Late Cretaceous the Americas were still separated by a branch of the Tethys Ocean. The presence of reported Avisaurus remains in both North and South America has been put forward as evidence that faunal changes in the southern half of North America during the Lancian resulted from an immigration event of South American taxa moving north.
Habitats[]
Avisaurus lived in lowland, grassland, floodplains of Montana during the late cretaceous. The place that Avisaurus called home had woods, forests, creeks, brooks, streams, ponds, ferns and shrubs. The Hell Creek Formation where Avisaurus was found it was home to many dinosaurs and other animals. The plains of Hell Creek where inhabited by fish like, freshwater sharks, freshwater rays, reptiles like, turtles, snakes, alligators, crocodiles, small mammals, amphibians like, toads, frogs, salamanders, invertebrates like, insects, crustaceans, arthropods, arachnids and birds.
Paleobiology[]
Classification[]
In popular culture[]
- Avisaurus appeared on tv show Dinosaur Train.
- Avisaurus appears in the video game Saurian.
- Avisaurus makes an appearance in Smithsonian Jurassic World Dominion prehistoric project kit.