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Omnivoropteryx (meaning "omnivorous wing") is a genus of primitive flying Avialae from the early Cretaceous Upper Jiufotang Formation of China. The authors who described Omnivoropteryx, Stephen Czerkas and Qiang Ji, stated that their specimen closely resembles Sapeornis, but the pubis was longer and, since no skull was known for Sapeornis, they did not consider the two names synonyms.Czerkas, S. A. & Ji, Q. (2002). "A preliminary report on an omnivorous volant bird from northeast China." In: Czerkas, S. J. (editor): Feathered Dinosaurs and the origin of flight. The Dinosaur Museum Journal 1: 127-135. HTML abstract The later discovery of Sapeornis skulls shows that they were indeed similar to Omnivoropteryx. This may make Omnivoropteryx a junior synonym of Sapeornis, and the name may be abandoned.Zhou, Z., and Zhang, F. (2003). "Anatomy of the primitive bird Sapeornis chaoyangensis from the Early Cretaceous of Liaoning, China". "Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences", 40: 731-747.
The single species O. sinousaorum shows an interesting mix of specialized and generalized characters: the legs were short and well suited for perching on branches, while the wings were long, suggesting it did not need a running or jumping takeoff to get into the air. Its skull, on the other hand, was similar to some early , having the structure of a beak designed for crushing and tearing with some teeth at the tip of the upper jaw. Thus, the species may have been an opportunistic omnivore (as the name suggests), utilizing a wide range of food sources, unlike other early birds which were active predators of smaller animals.
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