Fossil birds from the Late Cretaceous Los Alamitos Formation, Río Negro Province, Argentina

Abstract

In this note we report new avian remains from the Late Cretaceous Los Alamitos Formation (Campanian-Maastrichtian) at the Los Alamitos locality, Río Negro Province, Argentina. Isolated remains referable to indeterminate Aves, ?Patagopterygiformes, indeterminate Ornithurae, cf. Hesperornithes and cf. Neornithes are described and discussed. The new genus and species Alamitornis minutus is erected to include a minute-sized and gracile bird, probably related to the non-volant ratite-like bird Patagopteryx. If correctly identified, the record of Hesperornithes may be the first for this group in the Southern Hemisphere. The Los Alamitos paleoavifauna represents one of the most diverse fossil bird assemblage from the Mesozoic of Gondwana known to date.