What is Ornithurae?
{{Taxobox | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | superordo = [[Dinosauria]] | ordo = [[Saurischia]] | unranked tribus = [[Avialae]] }} '''Ornithurae''' (meaning 'bird tails' in [[Ancient Greek|Greek]]) is the name of a natural group which includes all modern [[bird]]s as well as their extinct relatives with plough-shaped [[pygostyle]]s (†[[Ichthyornis]], †[[Hesperornithes]], †[[Limenavis]]). This is a bone at the end of the tail which allows the tail feathers to fan and retract. ''[[Gansus]]'', from the [[Lower Cretaceous]] of [[China]] is the earliest known at 110 million years ago. Simple classification: *[[Birds]] **'''Ornithurae''' ***[[Neornithes]]: modern birds: the most recent [[common ancestor]] of all living birds (class Aves) and all its [[descendant]]s. ****[[Palaeognathae]] ([[tinamou]]s and flightless [[ratite]]s) ****[[Neognathae]] (all other modern birds) {{biology-stub}} [[Category:Birds]] [[Category:Taxonomy]]