Piscivorenantiornis is a genus of enantiornithine bird from the Jiufotang Formation of Liaoning, China. It is known from a single species, P. insusitatus.[1]
The holotype of Piscivorenantiornis (IVPP V22582), was discovered near Dapingfang in Chaoyang County, Liaoning, China, in sediments identified as belonging to the Jiufotang Formation.[2] Piscivoreantiornis genus name is derived from the Latin pisci ("fish") and vor ("to eat"), denoting it as the first known piscivorous enantiornithine; the species name derives from the Latin inusitatus ("extraordinary"). A second specimen of P. inusitatus (IVPP V23362) was described in 2020.[3]
Piscivorenantiornis was a small enantiornithine. The sternum resembles bohaiornithids in some regards, though its lateral trabecula lacks the strong lateral deflection that characterises them. It preserves a pair of craniolateral processes absent in most other enantiornithines. The articular sulci of the coracoid are widely spaced. The pubic boot is large and its tip is strongly recurved.[4]
In the paper describing Piscivorenantiornis, it nested either alongside Pterygornis, or outside of a clade comprising Pterygornis and Dunhuangia. In a paper published four years later, it was recovered in outside of a clade comprising Mirusavis and Shangyang.
The holotype of Piscivorenantiornis was found alongside a spindle-shaped arrangement of fish bones, likely belonging to the genus Lycoptera. Due to its shape and proximity, and a lack of fish bones elsewhere on the slab, it is believed that this structure represents a gastric pellet that was regurgitated shortly prior to its death.