Vorona

Vorona (/ˈvʊəruːnə/ VOOR-oo-nə; Malagasy for "bird", V. berivotrensis, "from Berivotra") is a monotypic genus of prehistoric birds. It was described from fossils found in a Maevarano Formation quarry near the village of Berivotra, Mahajanga Province, Madagascar. The age is Late Cretaceous, probably Campanian (70.6–83.5 mya). V. berivotrensis is known from scattered remains, possibly from a single individual (UA 8651 and FMNH PA715).

For other uses, see Vorona (disambiguation).

Vorona
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 70 Ma
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Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: Euornithes
Genus: †Vorona
Forster et al., 1996
Species:
†V. berivotrensis
Binomial name
†Vorona berivotrensis
Forster et al., 1996

The phylogenic affiliation of Vorona is hard to determine due to the fragmentary nature of the remains, mainly because the fossil shows a mix of primitive avian features as well as some that seem very modern. Vorona might be a primitive ornithuromorph. At least two studies recovered it as part of Enantiornithes, however.[1][2]

Vorona is sometimes confused with the dromaeosaur Rahonavis ostromi, a fossil of which was found in the same location. This confusion has led to the common misconception that Vorona had a deinonychosaur-like sickle claw on each foot.

References
  1. Pei, Rui; Pittman, Michael; Goloboff, Pablo A.; Dececchi, T. Alexander; Habib, Michael B.; Kaye, Thomas G.; Larsson, Hans C.E.; Norell, Mark A.; Brusatte, Stephen L.; Xu, Xing (August 2020). "Potential for Powered Flight Neared by Most Close Avialan Relatives, but Few Crossed Its Thresholds". Current Biology. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2020.06.105.
  2. Hartman, Scott; Mortimer, Mickey; Wahl, William R.; Lomax, Dean R.; Lippincott, Jessica; Lovelace, David M. (10 July 2019). "A new paravian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of North America supports a late acquisition of avian flight". PeerJ. 7. doi:10.7717/peerj.7247. PMC 6626525. PMID 31333906.

Further reading
  • Forster, Catherine A.; Chiappe, Luis M.; Krause, David W.; Sampson, Scott D. (August 1996). "The first Cretaceous bird from Madagascar". Nature. 382 (6591): 532–534. doi:10.1038/382532a0.


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