[dinosaur] Antarcticavis, new bird from Maastrichtian Cretaceous of Vega Island, Antarctica

Ben Creisler
[email protected]

A new paper:

Antarcticavis capelambensis gen. et sp. nov.

Amanda Cordes-Person, Carolina Acosta Hospitaleche, Judd Case & James
Martin (2019)
An enigmatic bird from the lower Maastrichtian of Vega Island, Antarctica.
Cretaceous Research (advance online publication)
doi:  https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__doi.org_10.1016_j.cretres.2019.104314&d=DwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=AWSOm2-aVX4w_jY7vrWzx_UuRXf8xFmDqeyhfCPZeGU&s=YSdnuZ05Y3E8emdz0lCwACHIgcC5ZtnULIL0Xg6mdJM&e= 
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.sciencedirect.com_science_article_pii_S0195667118304944&d=DwIBaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=Ry_mO4IFaUmGof_Yl9MyZgecRCKHn5g4z1CYJgFW9SI&m=AWSOm2-aVX4w_jY7vrWzx_UuRXf8xFmDqeyhfCPZeGU&s=r7znnaqZQi0qbHd-1RvDBk_0k0_wCYolGR5keDpo2ZU&e= 



We describe a partial skeleton from the lowest Maastrichtian levels of the
Snow Hill Island Formation (Vega Island, West Antarctica). Because of the
anatomical differences with the Antarctic Vegavis iaai and Polarornis
gregorii, this fossil is recognized here as a new genus and species. The
results of our phylogenetic analysis suggest that A. capelambensis would be
placed inside the Ornithuromorpha, and probably nested within the
Ornithurae. This provisional assignment could only be confirmed through the
finding of most complete and better preserved specimens. Antarcticavis
capelambensis is the geologically oldest bird described from Antarctica.