Canadaga

Canadaga (meaning "Canadian bird"[1]) is a flightless bird genus from the Late Cretaceous. The single known species is Canadaga arctica. It lived in the shallow seas around what today is Bylot and Devon Islands in Nunavut, Canada. Its fossils were found in rocks dated to the Campanian[2] to mid-Maastrichtian age, about 67 million years ago.[3]

Canadaga
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: Avialae
Clade: †Hesperornithes
Family: †Hesperornithidae
Genus: †Canadaga
Hou, 1999
Species:
†C. arctica
Binomial name
†Canadaga arctica
Hou, 1999

It was a member of the Hesperornithes, flightless toothed seabirds of the Cretaceous. Among these, it belonged to the Hesperornithidae, along with Hesperornis, the well-known namesake genus.[4]

Description

C. arctica is one of the largest known members of the Hesperornithes, reaching a length of 2.2 metres (7.2 ft).[2] It also represents one of the last known members of the lineage.[1] Unlike its relatives which are mainly known from subtropical or tropical waters, this species seems to have ranged in temperate or even subarctic areas.

The species is described from 3 associated cervical vertebrae, one caudal vertebra and two femurs.[3]

References
  1. Holtz, Thomas R. Jr. (2008) Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages. "Winter 2010 Supplementary Information" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. Wilson, Laura E.; Chin, Karen; Cumbaa, Stephen; Dyke, Gareth (2011-02-28). "A high latitude hesperornithiform (Aves) from Devon Island: palaeobiogeography and size distribution of North American hesperornithiforms". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 9 (1): 9–23. doi:10.1080/14772019.2010.502910. ISSN 1477-2019. S2CID 83749554.
  3. Hou L.-H. (1999). "New hesperornithid (Aves) from the Canadian Arctic" (PDF). Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 37 (7): 228–233. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-08.
  4. Mortimer, M. (2004). "The Theropod Database: Phylogeny of taxa". Archived from the original on May 16, 2013.


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