Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Subsectio: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Infraclassis: Aves
Subclassis: †Odontornithes
Infraclassis: Odontotormae
Ordo: Ichthyornithiformes
Familia: Apatornithidae
Genus: Iaceornis
Species: I. marshi
Name
Iaceornis J.A. Clarke, 2004
Iaceornis is a prehistoric marine bird genus endemic to North America during the Late Cretaceous living about 83.5 mya. It is known from a single fossil specimen found in Gove County, Kansas (USA), and consisting of a partial skeleton lacking a skull.
Since it was first discovered by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1877, the specimen (YPM 1734) was long considered to belong to the contemporary species Apatornis celer. Because it is relatively complete, most discussions of Apatornis actually focused on the Iaceornis fossil. In 2004, paleontologist Julia A. Clarke showed that the skeleton actually differed in important characteristics of the wing bones from the true, holotype specimen of Apatornis. Therefore, she assigned the more complete remains to a new genus and species, Iaceornis marshi, meaning "Marsh's neglected bird".[1]
In Clarke's phylogenetic analysis, she found that Iaceornis is more advanced than Ichthyornis but less advanced than modern birds.[1]
References
Clarke, J.A. (2004). "Morphology, phylogenetic taxonomy, and systematics of Ichthyornis and Apatornis (Avialae: Ornithurae)." Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 286: 1-179. PDF fulltext
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