Back طيور الغرب وأشباهها Arabic Hesperornitiformes Catalan Hesperornithiformes German Hesperornitoformaj Esperanto Hesperornithiformes Spanish باخترمرغان Persian Hesperornithiformes Finnish Hesperornithes French Hesperornithes Galician הספראורניסאים HE
| Hesperornitheans Temporal range:
Late Cretaceous, | |
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| Restored skeleton of Hesperornis regalis | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Clade: | Avialae |
| Clade: | Ornithurae |
| Clade: | †Hesperornithes Fürbringer, 1888 |
| Subgroups[4] | |
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| Synonyms | |
Hesperornithes is an extinct and highly specialized group of aquatic avialans closely related to the ancestors of modern birds. They inhabited both marine and freshwater habitats in the Northern Hemisphere, and include genera such as Hesperornis, Parahesperornis, Baptornis, Enaliornis, and Potamornis, all strong-swimming, predatory divers. Many of the species most specialized for swimming were completely flightless. The largest known hesperornithean, Canadaga arctica, may have reached a maximum adult length of 2.2 metres (7.2 ft).[5]
Hesperornitheans were the only Mesozoic avialans to colonize the oceans. They were wiped out in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, along with enantiornitheans and all other non-avian dinosaurs.
- ^ Larry D. Martin; Evgeny N. Kurochkin; Tim T. Tokaryk (2012). "A new evolutionary lineage of diving birds from the Late Cretaceous of North America and Asia". Palaeoworld. 21: 59–63. doi:10.1016/j.palwor.2012.02.005.
- ^ Tomonori Tanaka; Yoshitsugu Kobayashi; Ken'ichi Kurihara; Anthony R. Fiorillo; Manabu Kano (2017). "The oldest Asian hesperornithiform from the Upper Cretaceous of Japan, and the phylogenetic reassessment of Hesperornithiformes". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. Online edition. doi:10.1080/14772019.2017.1341960.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
clarke2004was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Holtz, Thomas R. Jr. (2012) Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages, Winter 2011 Appendix.
- ^ Wilson, Laura; Chin, Karen; Cumbaa, Stephen; Dyke, Gareth (2011-03-01). "A high latitude hesperornithiform (Aves) from Devon Island: palaeobiogeography and size distribution of North American hesperornithiforms". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 9: 9–23. doi:10.1080/14772019.2010.502910.