Ceramornis

Ceramornis is a prehistoric bird genus from the Late Cretaceous. It lived shortly before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event in the Maastrichtian, some 66 million years ago (mya).[1] Its remains were found in the Lull 2 location, a Lance Formation site in Niobrara County, Wyoming (United States). 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.[2]

Ceramornis
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 66 Ma
↓
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: †Cimolopterygidae
Genus: †Ceramornis
Brodkorb, 1963
Species:
†C. major
Binomial name
†Ceramornis major
Brodkorb, 1963

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,[3] 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.[1]

Some have allied it with Cimolopteryx in the group Cimolopterygidae.[4]

References
  1. Longrich, N. (2009). "An ornithurine-dominated avifauna from the Belly River Group (Campanian, Upper Cretaceous) of Alberta, Canada." Cretaceous Research, 30(1): 161-177.
  2. Berkeley Natural History Museums: Specimen Account: V53957 (Ceramornis major). Retrieved 2007-NOV-04.
  3. Mortimer (2004)
  4. Federico L. Agnolin (2010). "An avian coracoid from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina". Stvdia Geologica Salmanticensia. 46 (2): 99–119.


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