Enaliornis

Enaliornis Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 99.6–93.5 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Theropoda
Clade:	†Hesperornithes
Genus:	†Enaliornis Seeley, 1876
Type species
†Enaliornis barretti Seeley, 1876
Species
†Enaliornis barretti Seeley, 1876 †Enaliornis sedgwicki Seeley, 1876 †Enaliornis seeleyi Galton & Martin, 2002

Enaliornis is a genus of hesperornithine birds which lived in the early Late Cretaceous, making it the oldest known hesperornithine. Fossils have been found near Cambridge, England. Due to its lack of certain hesperornithid apomorphies, they were much more "conventional" birds and were initially held to be Gaviiformes (loons/divers).

Description

Based on the remnants that have been studied, it has not been determined if these birds had teeth like the others from this order. However, they were believed to not have well-developed wings. Like other hesperornithines, they probably had lobed feet for swimming, rather than webbed feet.

Classification

Enaliornis was originally named Pelagornis ("sea bird") by Seeley in 1866, but that name was preoccupied by a Miocene bird related to the pelicans. Three species have been described: the small Enaliornis sedgwicki, the medium-sized Enaliornis seeleyi, and the large Enaliornis barretti.

The size of the largest of the three species was comparable to a large pigeon. Together, they are the only birds currently assigned to the family Enaliornithidae. The presumed hesperornithine Potamornis from the Late Cretaceous Lance Formation of Buck Creek (USA) may also be related to this group.