Fossil birds from the Late Cretaceous Los Alamitos Formation, Río Negro Province, Argentina

AGNOLIN, FEDERICO; MARTINELLI, AGUSTIN G.

JOURNAL OF SOUTH AMERICAN EARTH SCIENCES

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2009 p. 42 - 49

0895-9811

In this note we report new avian remains from the Late Cretaceous Los Alamitos Formation (Campanian-Maastrichtian) at the Los Alamitos locality, Río Negro Province, Argentina. Isolated remains referable toindeterminate Aves, ?Patagopterygiformes, indeterminate Ornithurae, cf. Hesperornithes and cf. Neornithesare described and discussed. The new genus and species Alamitornis minutus is erected to include aminute-sized and gracile bird, probably related to the non-volant ratite-like bird Patagopteryx. If correctlyidentified, the record of Hesperornithes may be the first for this group in the Southern Hemisphere. TheLos Alamitos paleoavifauna represents one of the most diverse fossil bird assemblage from the Mesozoicof Gondwana known to date.