Enaliornis

Taxobox
name = "Enaliornis"
status = fossil
fossil_range = Early Cretaceous
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
subclassis = Hesperornithes
ordo = Hesperornithiformes
familia = Enaliornithidae
familia_authority =
genus = "Enaliornis"
genus_authority =
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision ="Enaliornis barretti" (type)
"Enaliornis sedgwicki"
"Enaliornis seeleyi"

"Enaliornis" is a genus of hesperornithine bird which lived in the late Early Cretaceous, making it the oldest known hesperornithine. Fossils have been found near Cambridge, England. Due to its lack of certain hesperornithid apomorphies, they were much more "conventional" birds and were initially held to be Gaviiformes (loons/divers) [Harrison & Walker (1973)] .

Three species have been described: The small "Enaliornis sedgwicki", the medium-sized "Enaliornis seeleyi", and the large "Enaliornis barretti". 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 (USA) may also be related to this group.

References

* (1973): "Wyleyia": a new bird humerus from the Lower Cretaceous of England. "Palaeontology" 16(4): 721-728. [http://palaeontology.palass-pubs.org/pdf/Vol%2016/Pages%20721-728.pdf PDF fulltext]

References