Polarornis

Polarornis
Temporal range: Maastrichtian
~66 Ma
↓
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: †Vegaviiformes
Family: †Vegaviidae
Genus: †Polarornis
Chatterjee, 2002
Species:
†P. gregorii
Binomial name
†Polarornis gregorii

Polarornis is a genus of prehistoric bird, possibly an anserimorph. It contains a single species Polarornis gregorii, known from incomplete remains of one individual found on Seymour Island, Antarctica, in rocks which are dated to the Late Cretaceous (López de Bertodano Formation, about 66 Ma).

The discovery of Polarornis gregorii was first announced by Sankar Chatterjee in 1989, but he did not describe and officially name the species until 2002.[1][2] The name Polarornis had been announced unofficially several years prior to its official publication, in Chatterjee's 1997 book The Rise of Birds.[3] It was about the size of a common loon, measuring 60 cm (2.0 ft) long and weighing 4 kg (8.8 lb).[2]

  1. ^ Chatterjee, S (1989). "The oldest Antarctic bird". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 8 (3): 11A.
  2. ^ a b Chatterjee, S. (2002). "The morphology and systematics of Polarornis, a Cretaceous loon (Aves: Gaviidae) from Antarctica". In Zhou, Z.; Zhang, F. (eds.). Proceedings of the 5th Symposium of the Society of Avian Paleontology and Evolution: Beijing, 1-4 June 2000. Science Press. pp. 125–155. ISBN 9787030105516.
  3. ^ Chatterjee, S. (1997). The Rise of Birds. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.