Extinct clade of aquatic avialans closely related to modern birds
Hesperornitheans
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 100–66 Ma
PreꞒ
Ꞓ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Restored skeleton of Hesperornis regalis
Scientific classification
Domain:
Eukaryota
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Clade:
Dinosauria
Clade:
Saurischia
Clade:
Theropoda
Clade:
Avialae
Clade:
Ornithurae
Clade:
†Hesperornithes Fürbringer, 1888
Subgroups[4]
†Baptornis
†Brodavis[1]
†Chupkaornis[2]
†Enaliornis
†Judinornis
†Pasquiaornis
†Potamornis
†Hesperornithidae[3]
†Asiahesperornis
†Canadaga
†Fumicollis
†Hesperornis
†Parahesperornis
Synonyms
Hesperornithiformes Sharpe, 1899[3]
Hesperornithes is an extinct and highly specialized group of aquatic avialans closely related to the ancestors of modern birds. They inhabited both marine and freshwater habitats in the Northern Hemisphere, and include genera such as Hesperornis, Parahesperornis, Baptornis, Enaliornis, and Potamornis, all strong-swimming, predatory divers. Many of the species most specialized for swimming were completely flightless. The largest known hesperornithean, Canadaga arctica, may have reached a maximum adult length of 2.2 metres (7.2 ft).[5]
Hesperornitheans were the only Mesozoic avialans to colonize the oceans. They were wiped out in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, along with enantiornitheans and all other non-avian dinosaurs.
^Larry D. Martin; Evgeny N. Kurochkin; Tim T. Tokaryk (2012). "A new evolutionary lineage of diving birds from the Late Cretaceous of North America and Asia". Palaeoworld. 21: 59–63. doi:10.1016/j.palwor.2012.02.005.
^Tomonori Tanaka; Yoshitsugu Kobayashi; Ken'ichi Kurihara; Anthony R. Fiorillo; Manabu Kano (2017). "The oldest Asian hesperornithiform from the Upper Cretaceous of Japan, and the phylogenetic reassessment of Hesperornithiformes". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. Online edition. doi:10.1080/14772019.2017.1341960.
^ abCite error: The named reference clarke2004 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Holtz, Thomas R. Jr. (2012) Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages, Winter 2011 Appendix.
^Wilson, Laura; Chin, Karen; Cumbaa, Stephen; Dyke, Gareth (2011-03-01). "A high latitude hesperornithiform (Aves) from Devon Island: palaeobiogeography and size distribution of North American hesperornithiforms". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 9: 9–23. doi:10.1080/14772019.2010.502910.
Hesperornithes is an extinct and highly specialized group of aquatic avialans closely related to the ancestors of modern birds. They inhabited both marine...
definition: "extant birds and all other taxa, such as Ichthyornis and Hesperornithes, that are closer to extant birds than is Archaeopteryx". Later he and...
2001: Potamornis skutchi. This was almost certainly a member of the Hesperornithes, the hefty and toothed flightless diving birds of the Mesozoic seas...
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...
penguins, ratites, and terror birds also filled niches left by the hesperornithes and other extinct dinosaurs. Pronounced cooling in the Oligocene resulted...
archaic clades of birds, such as Enantiornithes, Ichthyornithes, and Hesperornithes, persisted to the latest Maastrichtian but became extinct during the...
bizarre as Yungavolucris and Avisaurus. Though mostly small, marine Hesperornithes became relatively large and flightless, adapted to life in the open...
birds (Neornithes) and extinct related groups, such as Ichthyornis and Hesperornithes. The genus Gansus contains a single species, G. yumenensis, which was...
The largest prehistoric animals include both vertebrate and invertebrate species. Many of them are described below, along with their typical range of size...
like Spinosaurus have been argued to have had a semiaquatic lifestyle. Hesperornithes and penguins also adapted to this lifestyle. The metabolism of archosaurs...
of enantiornithe and ornithurine forms. Though mostly small, marine hesperornithes became relatively large and flightless, adapted to life in the open...
a large predatory fish, appears in the fossil record. 110 Ma First hesperornithes, toothed diving birds. Earliest limopsid, verticordiid, and thyasirid...
1093/molbev/msaa191. ISSN 0737-4038. PMC 7783168. PMID 32781465. Hope (2002) and see Hesperornithes These are the fossils described in the same paper as Pelecanus odessanus...
Ornithomimosauria, Oviraptorosauria, Deinonychosauria, Enantiornithes, and Hesperornithes. Only the Neornithes, otherwise known as modern birds, survived, and...
webbed feet for propulsion. Some diving birds, for example the extinct Hesperornithes of the Cretaceous Period, propelled themselves with their feet. They...
mid-Maastrichtian age, about 67 million years ago. It was a member of the Hesperornithes, flightless toothed seabirds of the Cretaceous. Among these, it belonged...
Global Information
