Baptornis
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Baptornis Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 83.5–80.5 Ma |
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| Illustration of a tarsometatarsus, 1880 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | †Hesperornithes |
| Family: |
†Baptornithidae AOU, 1910 |
| Genus: |
†Baptornis Marsh, 1877 |
| Species: | †B. advenus |
| Binomial name | |
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Baptornis advenus Marsh, 1877 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Parascaniornis Lambrecht, 1933 |
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Parascaniornis Lambrecht, 1933
Baptornis ("diving bird") is a genus of flightless aquatic birds from the Late Cretaceous, some 87-80 million years ago (roughly mid-Coniacian to mid-Campanian faunal stages). The fossils of Baptornis advenus, the type species, were discovered in Kansas, which at its time was mostly covered by the Western Interior Seaway, a shallow shelf sea. It is now known to have also occurred in today's Sweden, where the Turgai Strait joined the ancient North Sea; possibly, it occurred in the entire Holarctic.
Othniel Charles Marsh discovered the first fossils of this bird in the 1870s. This was, alongside the Archaeopteryx, one of the first Mesozoic birds to become known to science.
More material evidence exists for the ecology of B. advenus than for any other member of the Hesperornithes, with the possible exception of Hesperornis regalis, but still much is left to conjecture. The loon-sized bird was of middle size among its relatives and had a markedly elongated neck. Presumably, it thus behaved in a manner similar to today's darters, hunting smaller, more mobile prey than its larger relatives. Unlike a darter however, it could not spear its prey, but instead held it with its beak like today's mergansers.
The waters which it inhabited were fairly shallow epicontinental or shelf seas. Remains found far off the prehistoric shore suggest that it either ventured far out and/or that it bred on islands. A considerable number of juvenile specimens are known. These tend to be from the northern part of its range - today's Canada and Alaska - though they have also been found in Kansas. This suggests that the birds were migratory like some penguins are today, moving polewards in summer to breed. The Cretaceous had a much warmer climate than today; the waters inhabited by Baptornis were subtropical to temperate.
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