Sazavis was an enantiornithine bird from the Late Cretaceous. It might have been related to Nanantius and lived in what is now the Kyzyl Kum of Uzbekistan. There is a single species known to date, Sazavis prisca.

Etymology

Generic name composed of the Kazakh саз (saz) ("clay") and the Latin avis ("bird"), referring to the clay depression of Uzbekistan, near which this bird was discovered. The specific name derived from the Latin priscus and means "ancient".

Description

It is only known from a single piece of tibiotarsus about 4.5 mm wide in a distal joint. The bone has been found in the Bissekty Formation. The bird was a size of a pigeon, approximately some 18.5 cm long in life.

Paleoecology

Sazavis possibly lived on nearby coasts or in the liman forests dominated by the flowering plants of the Platanaceae family.