Pasquiaornis hardiei

You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Pasquiaornis 5 m (16.4 ft) long
as long as 3 people standing fingertip to fingertip
Length
5 m (16.4 ft)
Period
Late Cretaceous (95–93 Mya)
Place
North America · Canada · Saskatchewan, Canada
Food
Herbivore
Clade
Hesperornithiformes

Pasquiaornis is a prehistoric seabird genus of the Hesperornithes. It lived in the Late Cretaceous, during the late Cenomanian between 95 and 93 million years ago in North America. Two species, P. hardiei and P. tankei, were described in 1997 by Tim Tokaryk, Stephen Cumbaa and John Storer.

They are known from fossils recovered near Arborfield, Saskatchewan, mostly by 1992-93 expeditions of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum and the Canadian Museum of Nature. In the description, this genus was considered closer to Baptornis advenus than to the few other Hesperornithes then known, and assigned to family Baptornithidae. Subsequently discovered relatives suggest that it is instead a quite basal member of the Hesperornithes, while Baptornis represents a distinct and somewhat more advanced lineage.

What we know

  • Named by Tokaryk, Cumbaa & Storer, 1997.
  • Fossils found in North America and Canada.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Pasquiaornis — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.