Tenuicruris piscanexum , a new addition to Australia’s rare Cretaceous bird fossils

This study describes Tenuicruris piscanexum, gen. et sp. nov., the second Cretaceous bird named from Australia, based on a well-preserved tibiotarsus. Detailed morphological analysis and phylogenetic assessment place this new taxon within Enantiornithes, highlighting its unique combination of features, including a well-developed craniolateral cnemial crest and distinctive tarsometatarsal morphology. The novel methodology of pairwise analysis was employed to compare the new tibiotarsus with Nanantius, which confirmed both specimens had unique morphologies. Additionally, we report on the discovery of a tarsometatarsus, which although not formally named, was also phylogenetically placed within Enantiornithes.