Fred Ruhe
Well-known member
The recent The 150th Annual Meeting of the Kansas Academy of Science had a few Mesozoic vertebrate related items. The abstracts book for all the talks and posters is free:
http://www.kansasacademyscience.org/files/kas-meeting-2018-program.pdf
Of interest:
Garofalo, I. and Bell, A.K.
New Specimens of the Hesperornithoform Bird Fumicollis from the Upper Cretaceous of Western Kansas
http://www.kansasacademyscience.org/files/kas-meeting-2018-program.pdf pg. 24
Abstract:
Hesperornithiforms are an extinct group of foot-propelled diving birds from the Cretaceous Period. Currently, four genera are known from the Smoky Hill Chalk of Kansas: Hesperornis, Parahesperornis, Baptornis, and Fumicollis. While Hesperornis is represented by hundreds of specimens, the remaining three genera are only known from a handful of individuals. A collection of previously undescribed hesperornithiform fossils housed at the Fick Fossil and History Museum in Oakley, Kansas includes a left femur (FFHM 1972.121.7f.1) and left tarsometatarsus (FFHM 1972.121.7f.4), which display features consistent with Fumicollis. FFHM 1972.121.7f.1 shows a curved shaft, similar to Fumicollis and unlike Baptornis, but has enough differences from the holotype of Fumicollis that it cannot be confidently assigned to Fumicollis hoffmanni. Due to the isolated nature of FFHM 1972.121.7f.1, we do not consider it appropriate to erect a new taxon, so the specimen is designated Fumicollis sp. FFHM 1972.121.7f.4 is very similar to the holotype of F. hoffmani and is here assigned to this species. These remains demonstrate the morphological variability in hesperornithiforms and emphasize the need for additional specimens to clarify our understanding of this variation.
Enjoy,
Fred
http://www.kansasacademyscience.org/files/kas-meeting-2018-program.pdf
Of interest:
Garofalo, I. and Bell, A.K.
New Specimens of the Hesperornithoform Bird Fumicollis from the Upper Cretaceous of Western Kansas
http://www.kansasacademyscience.org/files/kas-meeting-2018-program.pdf pg. 24
Abstract:
Hesperornithiforms are an extinct group of foot-propelled diving birds from the Cretaceous Period. Currently, four genera are known from the Smoky Hill Chalk of Kansas: Hesperornis, Parahesperornis, Baptornis, and Fumicollis. While Hesperornis is represented by hundreds of specimens, the remaining three genera are only known from a handful of individuals. A collection of previously undescribed hesperornithiform fossils housed at the Fick Fossil and History Museum in Oakley, Kansas includes a left femur (FFHM 1972.121.7f.1) and left tarsometatarsus (FFHM 1972.121.7f.4), which display features consistent with Fumicollis. FFHM 1972.121.7f.1 shows a curved shaft, similar to Fumicollis and unlike Baptornis, but has enough differences from the holotype of Fumicollis that it cannot be confidently assigned to Fumicollis hoffmanni. Due to the isolated nature of FFHM 1972.121.7f.1, we do not consider it appropriate to erect a new taxon, so the specimen is designated Fumicollis sp. FFHM 1972.121.7f.4 is very similar to the holotype of F. hoffmani and is here assigned to this species. These remains demonstrate the morphological variability in hesperornithiforms and emphasize the need for additional specimens to clarify our understanding of this variation.
Enjoy,
Fred
