Yanornis martini

† Yanornis martini is the type species of Yanornis, known from the Jiufotang Formation of Liaoning. Stomach contents preserved in specimens include fish scales, documenting a piscivorous diet and supporting comparison to modern loon-like diving birds.

Diet & Feeding

Carnivore

Yanornis martini was a meat-eating predator. Carnivorous dinosaurs were active hunters or scavengers, equipped with sharp teeth and claws for catching and consuming prey. They occupied the top of the food chain in their ecosystems.

Time Period

Cretaceous Early Mesozoic Era

Yanornis martini lived during the Cretaceous Early period of the Mesozoic Era, approximately 145,0 to 100,5 million years ago.

The Cretaceous saw continued dinosaur evolution with the rise of ornithopods and early ceratopsians. Flowering plants first appeared and began to transform terrestrial ecosystems. Spinosaurus and other large theropods lived during this time.