The cretaceous birds of New JerseyOlson, Storrs L.
Science
The cretaceous birds of New Jersey
Olson, Storrs L.
Birds, Fossil; Paleontology -- Cretaceous; Paleontology -- New Jersey
Etymology.--Greek, _tytthos_, little, plus _stonyx_, any sharp point.
The name is masculine in gender and refers to the small, presumably
rudimentary, ectepicondylar spur. It should not be confused with the
coleopteran genus _Tytthonyx_, based on _onyx_, claw.
=_Tytthostonyx glauconiticus_, new species=
Figures 10, 11
Holotype.--Right humerus lacking the ventral tubercle, portions of the
pectoral crest, and other parts of the proximal end, where partially
reconstructed, NJSM 11341.
Locality and Horizon.--Main fossiliferous layer of the Inversand
Company marl pit, Sewell, Gloucester County, New Jersey; basal portion
of the Hornerstown Formation, latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian);
collected 11 October 1973 by David C. Parris.
Measurements of Holotype (in mm).--Length as reconstructed, 110; width
and depth of shaft at midpoint 7.0 × 5.6; distal width 14.8; depth
through dorsal condyle 8.7.
Etymology.--From Latin, _glaucus_ (Greek, _glaukos_), bluish green
or gray, sea-colored, applied to greensands because of their color,
although appropriate because of their marine origins as well; in
reference to the holotype having been recovered from beds of glauconite.
Remarks.--A possible relationship between the Procellariiformes and
Pelecaniformes has been previously suggested (Sibley and Ahlquist,
1972:70; Olson, 1985:142), and among the pelecaniform taxa most often
mentioned as being procellariiform-like are the Fregatidae. It is
tempting to regard the humerus of _Tytthostonyx_ as being similar
to that possessed by the ancestral stock that gave rise to the
Procellariiformes. Its similarities also to the Eocene frigatebird
_Limnofregata_ would thus be seen as corroborating the primitiveness
of the Fregatidae within the Pelecaniformes. Whereas _Tytthostonyx_
definitely has not achieved the highly distinctive and presumably
derived morphology of the humerus of modern Procellariiformes, the
incipient development of the ectepicondylar spur and deep brachial
depression could be interpreted as tending in that direction.
On the other hand, we must admit that we are dealing with only a
single bone and one of very great age at that, so that the risk of
overinterpreting the fossil is correspondingly great. We can only
discern the overall similarities of the specimen and phylogenetic
inferences can therefore be only tentative at best.
=Family and Genus Indeterminate=
Figure 9_e,f_
Referred Material.--Distal portion of left ulna ANSP 15713.
Locality and Horizon.--Inversand Company marl pit, near Sewell,
Gloucester County, New Jersey; Hornerstown Formation, Late Cretaceous
(Maastrichtian); not found in situ, collected on shelf formed by “blue
bed”; collected 31 August 1977 by Richard S. White.
Measurements (in mm).--Distal width 2.6, distal depth 3.1, width and
depth of shaft near point of break 1.8 × 1.9.
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