Apatornis

Taxobox
name = "Apatornis"
status = fossil
fossil_range = Late Cretaceous (Santonian/Campanian)
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
subclassis = Neornithes?
genus = "Apatornis"
genus_authority =
species = "A. celer"
binomial = "Apatornis celer"
binomial_authority =

"Apatornis" is a prehistoric bird genus from the Late Cretaceous. It lived around the Santonian-Campanian bampanian boundary, some 84-83 million years agoVerify source|date=November 2007 . Its remains were found in the Smoky Hill Chalk at Twin Butte Creek, USA. It was long allied with "Ichthyornis" in error. A single species is known, "Apatornis celer". The supposed "A." retusus" is now in "Palintropus", and "A". marshi" is now in "Iaceornis".

Its relationships are unresolved, mainly due to the paucity of material. While it is sometimes considered a neornithine and specifically to belong to the waterfowl (Anseriformes), this is far from certain. Though waterfowl must have been around by the time it lived, a phylogenetic analysis could not find any particularly close relationship with the ancestors of modern birds, and thus "A. celer" cannot be classified at present with more certainty than placing it in the Carinatae "incertae sedis" [Mortimer (2004)] .

Footnotes

References

* (2004): The Theropod Database: [http://home.comcast.net/~eoraptor/Phylogeny%20of%20Taxa.html Phylogeny of taxa] . Retrieved 2008-AUG-14.