The
Anteavis holotype specimen, PVSJ 1085, was discovered in outcrops of the Cancha de Bochas Member of the
Ischigualasto Formation in
Ischigualasto Provincial Park of
San Juan Province, northwestern Argentina. The specimen, which is
accessioned at the Institute and Museum of Natural Sciences (
Instituto y Museo de Ciencias Naturales) of the
National University of San Juan, consists of a partial skeleton of a single individual. The preserved skull bones include the left and right (upper and lower tooth-bearing bones), the left (bone near the upper margin of the
orbit, to the side of the ), and part of both and the right (
palate bones). Several vertebrae are preserved from various regions of the body, including four (neck), ten (back), four , and six (tail) vertebrae. The remaining elements belong to the limbs and girdles. Part of the right , both and the ends of the right (upper and lower forelimb bones), a possible of digit III, and part of what may be the (claw) of digit I are preserved from the forelimb and pectoral region. The hindlimb and pelvic region preserves a complete and articulated pelvis (, , and ), the left , right , and an end from both (upper and lower hindlimb bones), in addition to the left , , and , the right metatarsal of the digit II, and left phalanges of digit I and II. In 2025, Ricardo N. Martínez and colleagues
described Anteavis crurilongus as a new genus and species of early theropod dinosaur based on these fossil remains. The
generic name,
Anteavis, combines the
Latin words , meaning or , and , meaning . This alludes to the ancestral anatomy of the genus compared to birds, the only
extant theropods. The
specific name,
crurilongus, combines the Latin words , meaning ,and , meaning , in reference to the proportionally elongate lower hindlimb. == Classification ==