Ceramornis
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| Ceramornis Fossil range: Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) |
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| Ceramornis major Brodkorb, 1963 |
Ceramornis is a prehistoric bird genus from the Late Cretaceous. It lived shortly before the K-Pg mass extinction in the Maastrictian, some 67 million years ago (mya)[verification needed]. Its remains were found in the Lull 2 location, a Lance Formation site in Niobrara County, Wyoming (USA). A single species is known, Ceramornis major, and even that only from a proximal piece of coracoid. This is specimen UCMP V53957, which was collected by a University of California team in 1958.[1]
Its relationships are unresolved, mainly due to the paucity of material. While the material is not enough to be assessed by wide-scale cladistic analysis[2], it has been quantitatively compared to other avian coracoids. The bone looks decidedly neornithine, and most similar to Charadriiformes especially. It is not certain that this clade was already distinct by the Maastrichtian or whether there was a lineage consisting of the ancestors of these and other marine birds like Procellariiformes, Pelecaniformes, etc[3]. As an advanced waterfowl (Vegavis iaai) was around at about the same time as Ceramornis and as supported by molecular data[verification needed], it is very likely that there already was at least one, probably several lineages of Charadriiformes 67 mya.
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[4].
Some have allied it with "Cimolopteryx" in the Cimolopterygidae. However, this seems a motley assemblage of plesiomorphic Neoaves (possibly basal Charadriiformes) or Neornithes rather than an evolutionary group.[2]
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Berkeley Natural History Museums: Specimen Account: V53957 (Ceramornis major). Retrieved 2007-NOV-04.
- ^ a b Mortimer (2004)
- ^ Ecologically and morphologically similar to the form taxon "Graculavidae" but a) monophyletic and b) much more restricted in content
- ^ Mortimer (2004)
[edit] References
- Mortimer, Michael (2004): The Theropod Database: Phylogeny of taxa. Retrieved 2007-NOV-04.
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