ornithurine
/ɔːˈnɪθjʊrʌɪn/Palaeontology
adjective
Of, relating to, or designating birds of the division Ornithurae, a clade (believed to have originated in the Cretaceous period and including all recent bird species) descended from the earliest birds to have a short bony tail with a pygostyle. Compare earlier ornithurous.
noun
An ornithurine bird.
Origin
1980s; earliest use found in Paleobiology. From scientific Latin Ornithurae + -ine.