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1 April 2011 Remains of Small Ornithurine Birds from a Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Microsite in Russell County, North-Central Kansas
Alyssa Bell, Michael J. Everhart
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Our analysis of vertebrate remains collected from a Cenomanian microsite in the Lincoln Limestone, the basal-most member of the Greenhorn Formation in Russell County, Kansas, identifies ornithurine (sensu Chiappe, 1996) avian fossils. The specimens presented here are slightly younger than the oldest avian remains known from North America (from the Woodbine Formation, Texas) and of a similar age as the avians from the Asheville Formation in Saskatchewan, Canada. This find thus connects the extensive geographic range of the earliest North American birds from Saskatchewan south through central Kansas and on to Texas. The specimens discussed here are fragmentary, yet show features definitive of ornithurine birds. One specimen is attributable to Ichthyornis, whereas another preserves teeth characteristic of ornithurine birds. In addition to bird bones, the microsite yielded numerous bony fish remains, shark teeth, coniasaur vertebrae, and other lizard bones.

Alyssa Bell and Michael J. Everhart "Remains of Small Ornithurine Birds from a Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) Microsite in Russell County, North-Central Kansas," Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 114(2), 115-123, (1 April 2011). https://doi.org/10.1660/062.114.0111
Published: 1 April 2011
KEYWORDS
Avian
Greenhorn Formation
Ichthyornis
Lincoln Limestone
ornithurine
teeth
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