Eoconfuciusornis

Eoconfuciusornis a genus of extinct avialan that lived 131 Ma ago, in the Early Cretaceous of China.

Its provenance the Sichakou Beds are part of the Dabeigou Formation which was seen by the describers as dating to the Hauterivian, and were thought to be about 131 million years old.

The specimen consists of a compressed skeleton that is relatively complete and shows well conserved remains of most of the feathering.

Compared to the latter it had longer legs and lacked a pierced deltopectoral crest on the humerus.

It would have been the most basal species known of that group, as reflected by the generic name and in conformation to the age ascribed to it, about six million years older than the specimens of Confuciusornis.