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Limenavis patagonica

Cladus: Eukaryota
Supergroup: Opisthokonta
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Classis: Aves
Subclassis: Carinatae
Familia: incertae sedis
Genus: † Limenavis
Species: L. patagonica

Name

Limenavis patagonica J.A. Clarke & Chiappe, 2001

Limenavis is a prehistoric bird genus from the Late Cretaceous. It lived about 70 million years ago, around the Campanian-Maastrichtian boundary. Known from several broken bones, the remains of the only known species Limenavis patagonica were found in rocks of the "lower member" of the Allen Formation at Salitral Moreno, 20 km south of General Roca, Río Negro (Argentina).[1]

It is quite certainly a carinatae, a member of the clade containing living birds and a few very closely related extinct Mesozoic taxa such as Ichthyornis. It was even proposed to have been a paleognath, perhaps related to the ancestors of tinamous or rheas. Though such birds must have existed by that time already, and most likely at least tinamou ancestors (basal Tinamiformes) did live in South America by the Late Cretaceous[2], it is not too likely that L. patagonica is indeed a member of the Neornithes.[3]

However, of all the prehistoric birds known to date, this species is certainly among those closest to the common ancestor of all living birds. Its generic name pays tribute to this fact: Limenavis, meaning "bird of the threshold" or "limit-bird", is derived from Latin limen ("threshold") + avis ("bird"). The specific name patagonica refers to the specimen's Patagonian provenance.

Footnotes

1. ^ LEONA LEONARD, GARETH J. DYKE,1, AND MARCEL VAN TUINEN (2005)A New Specimen of the Fossil Lithornis from the Lower Eocene. American Museum Novitates. Number 3491, 11 pp., 4 figures AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORYCENTRAL PARK WEST AT 79TH STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10024
2. ^ Tinamous proper (Tinamidae) are only known with certainty since the Miocene
3. ^ Mortimer (2004)


References

* Mortimer, Michael (2004): The Theropod Database: Phylogeny of taxa. Retrieved 2008-AUG-14.

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