Ornithothoraces

The name Ornithothoraces means "bird thoraxes". This refers to a modern, highly derived, anatomy of the thorax which gave the ornithothoracines superior flight capability compared to more primitive birds. This anatomy includes elongated coracoids, a large, keeled sternum, and modified glenoid joint of the shoulder, along with a semirigid dorsal rib cage.

Chiappe and Calvo (1994) and Chiappe (1996) defined the clade Ornithothoraces as "the common ancestor of Iberomesornis romerali and extant birds, plus all their descendants. This is a node - based definition.

Sereno (1998) defined Ornithothoraces in the same node - based way, but used Sinornis santensis instead of Iberomesornis.

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