Magnoavipes denaliensis

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Magnoavipes denaliensis
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Clade:† Ornithomimosauria
Ichnofamily:† Ornithomimipodidae
Ichnogenus:† Magnoavipes
Species:
†M. denaliensis
Binomial name
†Magnoavipes denaliensis
Fiorillo et al., 2011 [1]

Magnoavipes denaliensis is an extinct bird ichnospecies from the Cretaceous period. [2] As one of the ichnofauna, it is known only from trace fossils. [3] Its footprints were discovered within the Cantwell Formation at Tattler Creek in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska; the species is named after Denali. [3] [4] Evidence of the bird has not been confirmed at any other locations, [1] though it may have been migratory. [5] The fossils identifying the species are approximately 70 million years old. [6]

Description

Magnoavipes denaliensis had feet that averaged 20 centimeters long and 20 cm wide, larger than most other fossilized bird footprints. The foot had three toes, each with a sharp claw and a prominent toe pad, and the toes formed divarication angles of 97–116 degrees. It is differentiated from other species in the ichnogenus, M. lowei, which lacked toe pads, and M. caneeri, which had narrower toe divarication angles. [3] It was likely of a similar height as the sandhill crane and is thought to have been a piscivorous [7] wading bird. [8] It has been described as being similar to a modern heron or crane. [9]

The location of the fossils' discovery is in the region that once formed the Bering land bridge, which facilitated animal migrations between Asia and North America during the time of M. denaliensis. [3] The genus name Magnoavipes means "bird with large feet" and the species name denaliensis means "found in Denali". [7]

In 2019, fossilized bird footprints were discovered in the Chignik Formation at Alaska's Aniakchak National Monument that were described as resembling those of M. denaliensis, though the tracks had greater divarication angles than those of this ichnospecies. [10]

References

  1. 1 2 "†Magnoavipes denaliensis Fiorillo et al. 2011 (coelurosaur)". Paleobiology Database . Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  2. ↑ Rosen, Yereth (January 31, 2011). "Tracks of two prehistoric birds found in Alaska". Reuters . Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Fiorillo, Anthony R.; Hasiotis, Stephen T.; Kobayashi, Yoshitsugu; Breithaupt, Brent; McCartney, Paul J. (December 16, 2010). "Bird tracks from the Upper Cretaceous Cantwell Formation of Denali National Park, Alaska, USA: a new perspective on ancient northern polar vertebrate biodiversity" . Journal of Systematic Palaeontology . 9 (1). Taylor & Francis: 33–49. doi:10.1080/14772019.2010.509356 . Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  4. ↑ Medred, Craig (January 25, 2011). "When flying dinosaurs roamed Denali National Park". Anchorage Daily News . Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  5. ↑ Fiorillo, Anthony; Adema, Guy. "Fossil birds of Denali National Park and Preserve" (PDF). Alaska Park Science. 10 (2). National Park Service: 64. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  6. ↑ "Fossil Bird Diversity". National Park Service . May 18, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  7. 1 2 Rozell, Ned (February 11, 2011). "Rock redwoods in Sutton, stone bird tracks in Denali". University of Alaska Fairbanks . Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  8. ↑ Keough, Brandon; Ridgway, Kenneth (June 15, 2023). "High-Latitude Depositional Systems, Provenance, and Basinal Setting of the Late Cretaceous Cantwell Basin, Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska: A Stratigraphic Framework for Paleontological and Paleoclimatic Studies". Geosciences. 13 (6). MDPI: 181. Bibcode:2023Geosc..13..181K. doi: 10.3390/geosciences13060181 .
  9. ↑ "Crane-like Birds". National Park Service . July 7, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2025.
  10. ↑ Fiorillo, Anthony R.; Kobayashi, Yoshitsugu; McCartney, Paul J.; Tanaka, Tomonori; Tykosi, Ronald S.; Lee, Yuong-Nam; Takasaki, Ryuji; Yoshida, Junki (October 30, 2019). "Dinosaur ichnology and sedimentology of the Chignik Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Aniakchak National Monument, southwestern Alaska; Further insights on habitat preferences of high-latitude hadrosaurs". PLOS One . 14 (10). PLOS: e0223471. Bibcode:2019PLoSO..1423471F. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0223471 . PMC   6821036 . PMID   31665132.
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