Chupkaornis is a genus of prehistoric flightless birds from the Late Cretaceous (Coniacian-Santonian) Kashima Formation of Hokkaido, Japan.

Chupkaornis
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 89–85 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade: Avialae
Clade: Hesperornithes
Genus: Chupkaornis
Tanaka et al., 2017
Type species
Chupkaornis keraorum
Tanaka et al., 2017

Description

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Diagnostic traits of Chupkaornis include a finger-like projected tibiofibular crest of femur, deep, emarginated lateral excavation with a sharply defined edge of the ventral margin of the thoracic vertebrae, and the heterocoelous articular surface of the thoracic vertebrae.[1]

Phylogeny

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Chupkaornis is recovered by Tanaka et al. (2017) as more derived than the Cenomanian-age form Pasquiaornis, but less advanced than Brodavis and Baptornis.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Tomonori Tanaka, Yoshitsugu Kobayashi, Ken'ichi Kurihara, Anthony R. Fiorillo and Manabu Kano. 2017. The Oldest Asian Hesperornithiform from the Upper Cretaceous of Japan, and the Phylogenetic Reassessment of Hesperornithiformes. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. doi:10.1080/14772019.2017.1341960