New discovery and flying skills of Cathayornis from the Lower Cretaceous strata of the Otog Qi in Inner Mongolia, China

This paper describes a new fossil named Cathayornis chabuensis discovered in 2008，from Chabu, Otog Qi in Inner Mongolia, which also represents the second Cathayornis found in this area. The specimen preserves a complete sternum and furcula with some other clear skeleton impressions. A comparison of the new material with Eocathayornis walkeri, C. yandica and C. chabuensis shows that except the similarity between C. yandica and C. chabuensis, the later one displays some more advanced characteristics than E. walkeri and C. yandica. Besides, the functional morphological analysis related to flying skills supports that C. chabuensis is not only capable of flapping flight as C. yandica in the Early Cretaceous, but also possesses an advanced flying system indicating a stronger flying capability.