Overview
- Researchers formally name the sparrow-sized enantiornithine Chromeornis funkyi in Palaeontologica Electronica on December 5.
- The fossil, housed at China’s Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature, was examined by the Field Museum’s Jingmai O’Connor.
- High-resolution CT data and comparisons to known gizzard-bearing birds show the mass’s size, count, and composition are inconsistent with gastroliths, with some items resembling clay pellets.
- The team proposes a cautious scenario in which illness prompted stone ingestion and a regurgitated aggregate became lodged in the esophagus, likely causing death.
- The find adds to knowledge of enantiornithine diversity and extinction vulnerability, and the species name honors the band Chromeo, which publicly welcomed the tribute.