hesperornithid

English

†Hesperornis regalis, a hesperornithid

Etymology

From translingual Hesperornithidae, from Hesperornis (“genus name”).

Noun

hesperornithid (plural hesperornithids)

1. (paleontology) Any extinct avialan in the family Hesperornithidae.
   • 2011, David B. Weishampel, Coralia-Maria Jianu, Transylvanian Dinosaurs, Johns Hopkins University Press, page 109:

     Finally, the Volgorod locality, Maastrichtian in age, has yielded two dinosaurs (an indeterminate hesperornithid and a basal theropod) and a few turtles.

   • 2017, Michael J. Everhart, Oceans of Kansas, Indiana University Press, page 365:

     The arrival of these hesperornithids in more southern waters during the early Campanian may indicate a cooler climate, closer shores, adaptations to changes in prey, or other factors.

   • 2020, Alan Feduccia, Romancing the Birds and Dinosaurs, Universal Publishers (BrownWalker Press), page 83,

     9. Cretaceous foot-propelled divers, the hesperornithids, were grouped cladistically with loons (Eocene) and grebes (Miocene) as a clade, which would require re-evolution of teeth from an edentulous ancestor.

Related terms

• hesperornithean (member of clade Hesperornithes)
• hesperornithiform (member of order Hesperornithiformes)

Further reading

• Hesperornithes on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
  • Hesperornithiformes on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
    • Hesperornithidae on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Category:Hesperornithes on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons
• Category:Hesperornithiformes on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons