Canadaga

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Canadaga Fossil range: Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian)
Conservation status
Fossil
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Subclass: Hesperornithes Order: Hesperornithiformes Family: Hesperornithidae Genus: Canadaga Species: C. arctica
Binomial name
Canadaga arctica

Canadaga is a prehistoric flightless bird genus from the Late Cretaceous. The single known species is Canadaga arctica. It lived in the shallow seas around what today is northern Canada, during the mid-Maastrichtian some 67 million years ago^{[verification needed]}

It was a member of the Hesperornithes, flightless toothed seabirds of the Cretaceous. Among these, it belonged to the Hesperornithidae just like Hesperornis, the well-known namesake genus.^[1]

C. arctica is the largest known member of the Hesperornithes, reaching a length of 1.5 meters (5 ft). It also represents the youngest member of the lineage. Unlike its relatives which are mainly known from subtropical or tropical waters, this species seems to have ranged in temperate or even subarctic areas.

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

• Mortimer, Michael (2004): The Theropod Database: Phylogeny of taxa. Retrieved 2007-OCT-29.