2026-10-11T21:45:18Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/34018110 2026-09-28T18:00:41Z category_13 category_21 category_24 category_272 category_39 category_734 portal_87 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

<i>Tenuicruris piscanexum</i>, a new addition to Australia’s rare Cretaceous bird fossils Matt A. White (7483091) Joseph J. Bevitt (3965156) Kevin W. Petersen (25132914) Matthew C. Herne (3860803) Genetics Biotechnology Evolutionary Biology Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified Ecology Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified phylogenetic assessment place distinctive tarsometatarsal morphology tenuicruris piscanexum </ detailed morphological analysis nanantius </ pairwise analysis unique morphologies unique combination study describes preserved tibiotarsus novel methodology nov ., new tibiotarsus new addition formally named et sp <p>This study describes <i>Tenuicruris piscanexum</i>, gen. et sp. nov., the second Cretaceous bird named from Australia, based on a well-preserved tibiotarsus. Detailed morphological analysis and phylogenetic assessment place this new taxon within Enantiornithes, highlighting its unique combination of features, including a well-developed craniolateral cnemial crest and distinctive tarsometatarsal morphology. The novel methodology of pairwise analysis was employed to compare the new tibiotarsus with <i>Nanantius</i>, which confirmed both specimens had unique morphologies. Additionally, we report on the discovery of a tarsometatarsus, which although not formally named, was also phylogenetically placed within Enantiornithes.</p> 2026-09-28T18:00:41Z Dataset Dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.34018110.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/_i_Tenuicruris_piscanexum_i_a_new_addition_to_Australia_s_rare_Cretaceous_bird_fossils/34018110 CC BY 4.0