| Asteriornis Temporal range: Late Maastrichtian | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Skull in lateral view | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Infraclass: | Neognathae |
| Clade: | Pangalloanserae |
| Genus: | †Asteriornis Field et al. 2020 |
| Type species | |
| †Asteriornis maastrichtensis Field et al. 2020 | |
Asteriornis is an extinct genus of bird from the Upper Cretaceous of Belgium. It is known from a single species called Asteriornis maastrichtensis.
It was closely related to birds of the living superorder Galloanserae, such as chickens and ducks. Members of the genus were small, long-legged birds (~394 g).
They lived near the coastline with more "primitive" types of birds such as Ichthyornis. Asteriornis is one of the oldest-known birds: it definitely belongs to the group Neornithes, the modern birds.
It has features of both galliformes (chicken-like birds) and anseriformes (duck-like birds). This shows its position as a close relative of the last common ancestor for both groups.