Baptornis
Encyclopedia
Baptornis is an extinct genus
of flightless
aquatic bird
from the Late Cretaceous
, some 87-80 million years ago (roughly mid-Coniacian
to mid-Campanian
faunal stage
s). The fossils of Baptornis advenus, the type species, were discovered in Kansas
, which at its time was mostly covered by the Western Interior Seaway
, a shallow shelf sea. It is now known to have also occurred in today's Sweden
, where the Turgai Strait joined the ancient North Sea
; possibly, it occurred in the entire Holarctic
.
Othniel Charles Marsh
discovered the first fossil
s of this bird in the 1870s. This was, alongside the Archaeopteryx
, one of the first Mesozoic
birds to become known to science.
s. Unlike its larger relative Hesperornis
, the manual bones were not fully reduced, and it seems to have retained a tiny, finger-like stub. Its legs were powerful and the feet were very large with long toes that could not rotate well, allowing the animal to swim and dive at considerable speed. Its foot, altogether, was rather similar to that of a large loon
which it also resembled in overall bulk.
Thus the toes of Baptornis were probably webbed as in loons or ducks, rather than lobed as in grebes and Hesperornis
: for birds with lobed toes, rotating the toes is necessary to reduce drag
when pulling the foot forward for a new stroke. Still, no skin impressions have been found of webs or lobes, leaving the matter open to debate. What is known from fossil skin impression is that the tarsometatarsus
was covered by larger scutes in front and smaller scales behind like in loons, rather than all-scaled as in grebes.
Like other Hesperornithes
, Baptornis probably had teeth in its beak
which allowed it to grab fish
and other slippery prey. The skull is still unknown, but some teeth of the right size and shape have been found in the same rocks as Baptornis bones, and these are likely to be from the bird rather than a non-avian theropod dinosaur. Its neck
was unusually long, further extending its reach.
The pygostyle
was long, high and narrow. The tail thus probably was laterally compressed and served as rudder
; a similar adaptation though less extreme is found in today's loons.
As its relatives, the bones of Baptornis were dense, much like in mammals. This helped the animal to dive by reducing its buoyancy
. It also made the bones fossilize better, making them more common than those of flying birds like Ichthyornis
which, compared to other vertebrate bones, are rare as fossils.
-sized bird was of middle size among its relatives and had a markedly elongated neck. Presumably, it thus behaved in a manner similar to today's darter
s, hunting smaller, more mobile prey than its larger relatives. Unlike a darter however, it could not spear its prey, but instead held it with its beak like today's mergansers.
The waters which it inhabited were fairly shallow epicontinental or shelf seas. Remains found far off the prehistoric shore suggest that it either ventured far out and/or that it bred on islands. A considerable number of juvenile
specimens are known. These tend to be from the northern part of its range - today's Canada
and Alaska
- though they have also been found in Kansas
. This suggests that the birds were migratory
like some penguin
s are today, moving polewards in summer to breed. The Cretaceous had a much warmer climate
than today; the waters inhabited by Baptornis were subtropical to temperate
.
The long neck also provided extra mobility necessary since its feet were probably webbed rather than lobed, and thus optimized towards speed rather than maneuverability. With the dense bones, the animals probably swam half-submerged as darters and cormorant
s do. The wings played no major role in locomotion, but may have been helpful in changing depth and/or direction, similar to a submarine
's diving planes or a fish's pectoral fins. It is even possible that it gained some additional maneuverability by the hand-stub, which despite being much reduced still could be moved independently at the wrist joint.
While it was excellently adapted to swimming and diving, Baptornis is thought to have been clumsy on land, pushing itself along the rocks with its feet rather than actually walking. The natural position of the lower legs was flush against the body, with the feet stretched out sideways and thus it would have been unable to move upright without toppling over. As opposed to Hesperornis which almost certainly had to slide on its belly or galumph like an earless seal
, Baptorniss lower leg was not as firmly placed along the body sides. Thus, it would have found it more easy to place its feet under its body with the toes pointing forwards and might have managed small hops or even an awkward waddle, body held low to the ground.
The only certain record of Hesperornithes' food found so far comes from Baptornis: Specimen UNSM 20030 was found associated with some coprolite
s. These are small round lumps - maybe a centimeter in diameter or so - and contain the remains of a small species of the sabre-toothed "herring" Enchodus
, possibly E. parvus. Baptornis had powerful gastric juices and/or regurgiated most indigestible parts of its prey as a pellet
like most living fish-eating birds do, because the Enchodus remains make up only a small fraction of the coprolites' mass, most of which was nondescript feces
.
. Both belonged to the Hesperornithes
, a group of prehistoric birds which were uniquely adapted to diving and swimming, and had teeth. Otherwise, they were fairly similar to living birds rather than to more dinosaur
-like forms such as Archaeopteryx
or the Enantiornithes
.
As Baptornis was quite peculiar among the Hesperornithes, the family
Baptornithidae has been established for it. Presently this is considered monotypic
by most. However, it was recently established that the supposed "Cretaceous flamingo" Parascaniornis stenisoei from the Late Cretaceous of Ivö Island in Sweden
was not a flamingo and neither, as suggested by others, a gaviiform
(loon) nor a procellariiform
, but in fact belongs with Baptornis. As there is insufficient material for a proper comparison, it is not known whether it is also a junior synonym of B. advenus or a second species.
In 2004, it was announced that material of a second species were being prepared for description. It is about twice as massive as the B. advenus. The bones had been found in the lower Pierre Shale
of SW South Dakota
. James Martin and Amanda Cordes-Person named this species Baptornis varneri in 2007.
In addition, two other prehistoric diving birds of the Late Cretaceous are sometimes placed in the Baptornithidae:
Potamornis
is in all probability a member of the Hesperornithes. However, it is unclear with which of these it is most closely allied; some place it in the Baptornithidae.
More interesting - or controversial - is the case of Neogaeornis
. This bird, whose remains were found in Chile
, might be a baptornithid also. Others consider it closely related to certain modern birds, either the Gaviiformes
, or the Procellariiformes
.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of flightless
Flightless bird
Flightless birds are birds which lack the ability to fly, relying instead on their ability to run or swim. They are thought to have evolved from flying ancestors. There are about forty species in existence today, the best known being the ostrich, emu, cassowary, rhea, kiwi, and penguin...
aquatic bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
from the Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...
, some 87-80 million years ago (roughly mid-Coniacian
Coniacian
The Coniacian is an age or stage in the geologic timescale. It is a subdivision of the Late Cretaceous epoch or Upper Cretaceous series and spans the time between 89.3 ± 1 Ma and 85.8 ± 0.7 Ma...
to mid-Campanian
Campanian
The Campanian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous epoch . The Campanian spans the time from 83.5 ± 0.7 Ma to 70.6 ± 0.6 Ma ...
faunal stage
Faunal stage
In chronostratigraphy, a stage is a succession of rock strata laid down in a single age on the geologic timescale, which usually represents millions of years of deposition. A given stage of rock and the corresponding age of time will by convention have the same name, and the same boundaries.Rock...
s). The fossils of Baptornis advenus, the type species, were discovered in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, which at its time was mostly covered by the Western Interior Seaway
Western Interior Seaway
The Western Interior Seaway, also called the Cretaceous Seaway, the Niobraran Sea, and the North American Inland Sea, was a huge inland sea that split the continent of North America into two halves, Laramidia and Appalachia, during most of the mid- and late-Cretaceous Period...
, a shallow shelf sea. It is now known to have also occurred in today's Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, where the Turgai Strait joined the ancient North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
; possibly, it occurred in the entire Holarctic
Holarctic
The Holarctic ecozone refers to the habitats found throughout the northern continents of the world as a whole. This region is divided into the Palearctic, consisting of Northern Africa and all of Eurasia, with the exception of Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, and the Nearctic,...
.
Othniel Charles Marsh
Othniel Charles Marsh
Othniel Charles Marsh was an American paleontologist. Marsh was one of the preeminent scientists in the field; the discovery or description of dozens of news species and theories on the origins of birds are among his legacies.Born into a modest family, Marsh was able to afford higher education...
discovered the first fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s of this bird in the 1870s. This was, alongside the Archaeopteryx
Archaeopteryx
Archaeopteryx , sometimes referred to by its German name Urvogel , is a genus of theropod dinosaur that is closely related to birds. The name derives from the Ancient Greek meaning "ancient", and , meaning "feather" or "wing"...
, one of the first Mesozoic
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time...
birds to become known to science.
Anatomy
The 1 m (3 ft 4 in) long Baptornis had lost the ability to fly, possessing only vestigial wingWing
A wing is an appendage with a surface that produces lift for flight or propulsion through the atmosphere, or through another gaseous or liquid fluid...
s. Unlike its larger relative Hesperornis
Hesperornis
Hesperornis is a genus of flightless aquatic birds that spanned the first half of the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous period . One of the lesser-known discoveries of the paleontologist O. C. Marsh in the late 19th century Bone Wars, it was an important early find in the history of avian...
, the manual bones were not fully reduced, and it seems to have retained a tiny, finger-like stub. Its legs were powerful and the feet were very large with long toes that could not rotate well, allowing the animal to swim and dive at considerable speed. Its foot, altogether, was rather similar to that of a large loon
Loon
The loons or divers are a group of aquatic birds found in many parts of North America and northern Eurasia...
which it also resembled in overall bulk.
Thus the toes of Baptornis were probably webbed as in loons or ducks, rather than lobed as in grebes and Hesperornis
Hesperornis
Hesperornis is a genus of flightless aquatic birds that spanned the first half of the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous period . One of the lesser-known discoveries of the paleontologist O. C. Marsh in the late 19th century Bone Wars, it was an important early find in the history of avian...
: for birds with lobed toes, rotating the toes is necessary to reduce drag
Drag (physics)
In fluid dynamics, drag refers to forces which act on a solid object in the direction of the relative fluid flow velocity...
when pulling the foot forward for a new stroke. Still, no skin impressions have been found of webs or lobes, leaving the matter open to debate. What is known from fossil skin impression is that the tarsometatarsus
Tarsometatarsus
The tarsometatarsus is a bone that is found in the lower leg of certain tetrapods, namely birds.It is formed from the fusion of several bones found in other types of animals, and homologous to the mammalian tarsal and metatarsal bones...
was covered by larger scutes in front and smaller scales behind like in loons, rather than all-scaled as in grebes.
Like other Hesperornithes
Hesperornithes
Hesperornithes is an extinct and highly specialized clade of Cretaceous toothed birds. Hesperornithine birds, apparently limited to former aquatic habitats in the Northern Hemisphere, include genera such as Hesperornis, Parahesperornis, Baptornis, Enaliornis, and probably Potamornis, all...
, Baptornis probably had teeth in its beak
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
which allowed it to grab fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
and other slippery prey. The skull is still unknown, but some teeth of the right size and shape have been found in the same rocks as Baptornis bones, and these are likely to be from the bird rather than a non-avian theropod dinosaur. Its neck
Neck
The neck is the part of the body, on many terrestrial or secondarily aquatic vertebrates, that distinguishes the head from the torso or trunk. The adjective signifying "of the neck" is cervical .-Boner anatomy: The cervical spine:The cervical portion of the human spine comprises seven boney...
was unusually long, further extending its reach.
The pygostyle
Pygostyle
Pygostyle refers to a number of the final few caudal vertebrae fused into a single ossification, supporting the tail feathers and musculature. In modern birds, the rectrices attach to these....
was long, high and narrow. The tail thus probably was laterally compressed and served as rudder
Rudder
A rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft or other conveyance that moves through a medium . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...
; a similar adaptation though less extreme is found in today's loons.
As its relatives, the bones of Baptornis were dense, much like in mammals. This helped the animal to dive by reducing its buoyancy
Buoyancy
In physics, buoyancy is a force exerted by a fluid that opposes an object's weight. In a column of fluid, pressure increases with depth as a result of the weight of the overlying fluid. Thus a column of fluid, or an object submerged in the fluid, experiences greater pressure at the bottom of the...
. It also made the bones fossilize better, making them more common than those of flying birds like Ichthyornis
Ichthyornis
Ichthyornis is a genus of toothed seabirds from the Late Cretaceous of North America. Its fossil remains are known from the chalks of Alberta, Alabama, Kansas, New Mexico, Saskatchewan, and Texas, in strata that were laid down in the Western Interior Seaway during the Turonian-Campanian ages,...
which, compared to other vertebrate bones, are rare as fossils.
Ecology
More material evidence exists for the ecology of B. advenus than for any other member of the Hesperornithes, with the possible exception of Hesperornis regalis, but still much is left to conjecture. The loonLoon
The loons or divers are a group of aquatic birds found in many parts of North America and northern Eurasia...
-sized bird was of middle size among its relatives and had a markedly elongated neck. Presumably, it thus behaved in a manner similar to today's darter
Darter
The darters or snakebirds are mainly tropical waterbirds in the family Anhingidae. There are four living species, three of which are very common and widespread while the fourth is rarer and classified as near-threatened by the IUCN. The term "snakebird" is usually used without any additions to...
s, hunting smaller, more mobile prey than its larger relatives. Unlike a darter however, it could not spear its prey, but instead held it with its beak like today's mergansers.
The waters which it inhabited were fairly shallow epicontinental or shelf seas. Remains found far off the prehistoric shore suggest that it either ventured far out and/or that it bred on islands. A considerable number of juvenile
Juvenile (organism)
A juvenile is an individual organism that has not yet reached its adult form, sexual maturity or size. Juveniles sometimes look very different from the adult form, particularly in terms of their colour...
specimens are known. These tend to be from the northern part of its range - today's Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
- though they have also been found in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
. This suggests that the birds were migratory
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
like some penguin
Penguin
Penguins are a group of aquatic, flightless birds living almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica. Highly adapted for life in the water, penguins have countershaded dark and white plumage, and their wings have become flippers...
s are today, moving polewards in summer to breed. The Cretaceous had a much warmer climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
than today; the waters inhabited by Baptornis were subtropical to temperate
Temperate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...
.
The long neck also provided extra mobility necessary since its feet were probably webbed rather than lobed, and thus optimized towards speed rather than maneuverability. With the dense bones, the animals probably swam half-submerged as darters and cormorant
Cormorant
The bird family Phalacrocoracidae is represented by some 40 species of cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed recently, and the number of genera is disputed.- Names :...
s do. The wings played no major role in locomotion, but may have been helpful in changing depth and/or direction, similar to a submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
's diving planes or a fish's pectoral fins. It is even possible that it gained some additional maneuverability by the hand-stub, which despite being much reduced still could be moved independently at the wrist joint.
While it was excellently adapted to swimming and diving, Baptornis is thought to have been clumsy on land, pushing itself along the rocks with its feet rather than actually walking. The natural position of the lower legs was flush against the body, with the feet stretched out sideways and thus it would have been unable to move upright without toppling over. As opposed to Hesperornis which almost certainly had to slide on its belly or galumph like an earless seal
Earless seal
The true seals or earless seals are one of the three main groups of mammals within the seal superfamily, Pinnipedia. All true seals are members of the family Phocidae . They are sometimes called crawling seals to distinguish them from the fur seals and sea lions of the family Otariidae...
, Baptorniss lower leg was not as firmly placed along the body sides. Thus, it would have found it more easy to place its feet under its body with the toes pointing forwards and might have managed small hops or even an awkward waddle, body held low to the ground.
The only certain record of Hesperornithes' food found so far comes from Baptornis: Specimen UNSM 20030 was found associated with some coprolite
Coprolite
A coprolite is fossilized animal dung. Coprolites are classified as trace fossils as opposed to body fossils, as they give evidence for the animal's behaviour rather than morphology. The name is derived from the Greek words κοπρος / kopros meaning 'dung' and λιθος / lithos meaning 'stone'. They...
s. These are small round lumps - maybe a centimeter in diameter or so - and contain the remains of a small species of the sabre-toothed "herring" Enchodus
Enchodus
Enchodus is an extinct genus of bony fish. It flourished during the Upper Cretaceous and was small to medium in size. One of the genus' most notable attributes are the large "fangs" at the front of the upper and lower jaws and on the palatine bones, leading to its misleading nickname among fossil...
, possibly E. parvus. Baptornis had powerful gastric juices and/or regurgiated most indigestible parts of its prey as a pellet
Pellet (ornithology)
A pellet, in ornithology, is the mass of undigested parts of a bird's food that some bird species occasionally regurgitate. The contents of a bird's pellet depend on its diet, but can include the exoskeletons of insects, indigestible plant matter, bones, fur, feathers, bills, claws, and teeth...
like most living fish-eating birds do, because the Enchodus remains make up only a small fraction of the coprolites' mass, most of which was nondescript feces
Feces
Feces, faeces, or fæces is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the anus or cloaca during defecation.-Etymology:...
.
Systematics
Baptornis was related to the bigger, better known HesperornisHesperornis
Hesperornis is a genus of flightless aquatic birds that spanned the first half of the Campanian age of the Late Cretaceous period . One of the lesser-known discoveries of the paleontologist O. C. Marsh in the late 19th century Bone Wars, it was an important early find in the history of avian...
. Both belonged to the Hesperornithes
Hesperornithes
Hesperornithes is an extinct and highly specialized clade of Cretaceous toothed birds. Hesperornithine birds, apparently limited to former aquatic habitats in the Northern Hemisphere, include genera such as Hesperornis, Parahesperornis, Baptornis, Enaliornis, and probably Potamornis, all...
, a group of prehistoric birds which were uniquely adapted to diving and swimming, and had teeth. Otherwise, they were fairly similar to living birds rather than to more dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
-like forms such as Archaeopteryx
Archaeopteryx
Archaeopteryx , sometimes referred to by its German name Urvogel , is a genus of theropod dinosaur that is closely related to birds. The name derives from the Ancient Greek meaning "ancient", and , meaning "feather" or "wing"...
or the Enantiornithes
Enantiornithes
Enantiornithes is an extinct group of primitive birds. They were the most abundant and diverse avialans of the Mesozoic. Almost all retained teeth and clawed fingers on each wing, but otherwise looked much like modern birds externally. Over 50 species of Enantiornithines have been named, but some...
.
As Baptornis was quite peculiar among the Hesperornithes, the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Baptornithidae has been established for it. Presently this is considered monotypic
Monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...
by most. However, it was recently established that the supposed "Cretaceous flamingo" Parascaniornis stenisoei from the Late Cretaceous of Ivö Island in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
was not a flamingo and neither, as suggested by others, a gaviiform
Gaviiformes
Gaviiformes is an order of aquatic birds containing the loons or divers and their closest extinct relatives. Modern gaviiformes are found in many parts of North America and northern Eurasia , though prehistoric species were more widespread.-Classification and evolution:There are five living...
(loon) nor a procellariiform
Procellariiformes
Procellariiformes is an order of seabirds that comprises four families: the albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters, storm petrels, and diving petrels...
, but in fact belongs with Baptornis. As there is insufficient material for a proper comparison, it is not known whether it is also a junior synonym of B. advenus or a second species.
In 2004, it was announced that material of a second species were being prepared for description. It is about twice as massive as the B. advenus. The bones had been found in the lower Pierre Shale
Pierre Shale
The Pierre Shale is a geologic formation or series in the Upper Cretaceous which occurs east of the Rocky Mountains in the Great Plains, from North Dakota to New Mexico....
of SW South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
. James Martin and Amanda Cordes-Person named this species Baptornis varneri in 2007.
In addition, two other prehistoric diving birds of the Late Cretaceous are sometimes placed in the Baptornithidae:
Potamornis
Potamornis
Potamornis is a prehistoric bird genus that dated back to the late Maastrichtian. Its scrappy remains were found in the Lance Formation at Buck Creek, USA, and a single species has been named and described in 2001: Potamornis skutchi....
is in all probability a member of the Hesperornithes. However, it is unclear with which of these it is most closely allied; some place it in the Baptornithidae.
More interesting - or controversial - is the case of Neogaeornis
Neogaeornis
Neogaeornis is a controversial prehistoric genus of diving bird. The single known species, Neogaeornis wetzeli, was described from fossils found in the Campanian to Maastrichtian Quiriquina Formation of Chile. It lived about 70-67 million years ago...
. This bird, whose remains were found in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, might be a baptornithid also. Others consider it closely related to certain modern birds, either the Gaviiformes
Gaviiformes
Gaviiformes is an order of aquatic birds containing the loons or divers and their closest extinct relatives. Modern gaviiformes are found in many parts of North America and northern Eurasia , though prehistoric species were more widespread.-Classification and evolution:There are five living...
, or the Procellariiformes
Procellariiformes
Procellariiformes is an order of seabirds that comprises four families: the albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters, storm petrels, and diving petrels...
.
External links
- Mounted skeleton. Lobed feet less likely, but plausible. Retrieved 2007-AUG-23.
- Reconstructed skeleton. Retrieved 2007-AUG-23.
- Reconstruction in life. Color is based on reasonable assumption of countershadingCountershadingCountershading, or Thayer's Law, is a form of camouflage. Countershading, in which an animal’s pigmentation is darker dorsally, is often thought to have an adaptive effect of reducing conspicuous shadows cast on the ventral region of an animal’s body...
. Retrieved 2007-AUG-23.
