| Austinornis Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Clade: | Avialae |
| Clade: | Ornithuromorpha |
| Clade: | Ornithurae |
| Genus: | † Austinornis Clarke, 2004 |
| Type species | |
| †Austinornis lentus (Clarke, 2004) | |
| Synonyms | |
Ichthyornis lentus (Marsh, 1877) | |
Austinornis is an extinct genus of prehistoric ornithuran of uncertain phylogenetic placement from the Late Cretaceous of Texas. The paleontologist Julia A. Clarke named the genus in 2004 based on a partial tarsometatarsus fossil from Austin Chalk. [1] Although Austinornis was thought to be a pangalliform, [1] other researchers have disputed its classification and dismissed it in phylogenetic analyses due to the fragmentary nature of the holotype. [2] [3] [4] Notably, in 2014, Gerald Mayr suggested that Austinornis is a non-neornithine from the Coniacian or Santonian age and that the specimen probably belongs to the ornithurine Apatornis or Iaceornis . [5]
