Enaliornis is a genus of hesperornithine which lived in the early Late Cretaceous, making them the oldest known hesperornithines. Fossils have been found near Cambridge, England. Due to its lack of certain[clarification needed] hesperornithid apomorphies, they were much more "conventional" birds and were initially held to be Gaviiformes (loons/divers).[2]
Based on the remnants that have been studied, it has not been determined if these birds had teeth like the others from this order. However, they were believed to not have well-developed wings.[3] Like other hesperornithines, they probably had lobed feet for swimming, rather than webbed feet.[4]
Classification
Enaliornis was originally named Pelagornis ("sea bird") by Seeley in 1866, but that name was preoccupied by a Miocene bird related to the pelicans. Three species have been described: the small Enaliornis sedgwicki, the medium-sized Enaliornis seeleyi, and the large Enaliornis barretti.
The size of the largest of the three species was comparable to a large pigeon.[3] Together, they are the only birds currently assigned to the familyEnaliornithidae. The presumed hesperornithine Potamornis from the Late CretaceousLance Formation of Buck Creek (United States) may also be related to this group.
^Lim, J. D., Zhou, Z., Martin, L. D., Baek, K. S., & Yang, S. Y. (2000). The oldest known tracks of web-footed birds from the Lower Cretaceous of South Korea. Naturwissenschaften, 87(6), 256-259.
Sources
Brands, Sheila (7 Apr 2012). . Project: The Taxonomicon. Archived from the original on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 12 Jun 2012.
Harrison, C.J.O.; Walker, C.A. (1973). (PDF). Palaeontology. 16 (4): 721–728. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-06.
Perrins, Christopher (1987) [1979]. Harrison, C.J.O. (ed.). Birds: Their Lifes, Their Ways, Their World. Reader's Digest Association, Inc. p. 166. ISBN0895770652.
enaliornis, genus, hesperornithine, which, lived, early, late, cretaceous, making, them, oldest, known, hesperornithines, fossils, have, been, found, near, cambridge, england, lack, certain, clarification, needed, hesperornithid, apomorphies, they, were, much,. Enaliornis is a genus of hesperornithine which lived in the early Late Cretaceous making them the oldest known hesperornithines Fossils have been found near Cambridge England Due to its lack of certain clarification needed hesperornithid apomorphies they were much more conventional birds and were initially held to be Gaviiformes loons divers 2 EnaliornisTemporal range Late Cretaceous 100 93 5 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg NScientific classificationKingdom AnimaliaPhylum ChordataClade DinosauriaClade SaurischiaClade TheropodaClade AvialaeClade HesperornithesGenus EnaliornisSeeley 1876Type species Enaliornis barrettiSeeley 1876 1 Species Enaliornis barretti Seeley 1876 Enaliornis sedgwicki Seeley 1876 Enaliornis seeleyi Galton amp Martin 2002 Contents 1 Description 2 Classification 3 References 4 SourcesDescription EditBased on the remnants that have been studied it has not been determined if these birds had teeth like the others from this order However they were believed to not have well developed wings 3 Like other hesperornithines they probably had lobed feet for swimming rather than webbed feet 4 Classification EditEnaliornis was originally named Pelagornis sea bird by Seeley in 1866 but that name was preoccupied by a Miocene bird related to the pelicans Three species have been described the small Enaliornis sedgwicki the medium sized Enaliornis seeleyi and the large Enaliornis barretti The size of the largest of the three species was comparable to a large pigeon 3 Together they are the only birds currently assigned to the family Enaliornithidae The presumed hesperornithine Potamornis from the Late Cretaceous Lance Formation of Buck Creek United States may also be related to this group References Edit Brands S 2012 Harrison amp Walker 1973 a b Perrins C 1987 Lim J D Zhou Z Martin L D Baek K S amp Yang S Y 2000 The oldest known tracks of web footed birds from the Lower Cretaceous of South Korea Naturwissenschaften 87 6 256 259 Sources EditBrands Sheila 7 Apr 2012 Taxon Genus Enaliornis Project The Taxonomicon Archived from the original on 2014 02 21 Retrieved 12 Jun 2012 Harrison C J O Walker C A 1973 Wyleyia a new bird humerus from the Lower Cretaceous of England PDF Palaeontology 16 4 721 728 Archived from the original PDF on 2012 02 06 Perrins Christopher 1987 1979 Harrison C J O ed Birds Their Lifes Their Ways Their World Reader s Digest Association Inc p 166 ISBN 0895770652 Paleontology portal This prehistoric bird article is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Enaliornis amp oldid 1136694136, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
