''Antarcticavis'' (meaning "

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and o ...

bird") is an extinct genus of avialans of uncertain phylogenetic placement, possibly a member of

Ornithuromorpha Euornithes (from Greek ' meaning "true birds") is a natural group which includes the most recent common ancestor of all avialans closer to modern birds than to ''Sinornis''. Description Clarke ''et al''. (2006) found that the most primitive kno ...

belonging to the group

Ornithurae Ornithurae (meaning "bird tails" in Greek) is a natural group which includes the common ancestor of '' Ichthyornis'', '' Hesperornis'', and all modern birds as well as all other descendants of that common ancestor. Classification Ernst Haeckel c ...

. It is known from a partial skeleton which was discovered in the

Snow Hill Island Formation The Snow Hill Island Formation is an Early Maastrichtian geologic formation found on James Ross Island, James Ross Island group, Antarctica. Remains of a paravian theropod ''Imperobator antarcticus''Ely & Case, 2019 have been recovered from it, a ...

in Antarctica. The type and only species, ''Antarcticavis capelambensis'', was announced in 2019 although the final version of the article naming it was published in 2020. The

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of seve ...

, SDSM 78147, consists of two thoracic vertebrae, the sternum keel, the right coracoid and shoulder blade, the sternal part of the left coracoid, the right upper arm, parts of the left upper arm, the proximal right ulna, the proximal left ulna and radius (articulated), the proximal right carpometacarpus, the proximal left carpometacarpus, the distal left carpometacarpus, the synsacrum, the right and left thighs, the proximal right tibiotarsus, the right and left distal tibiotarsus, and the proximal right tarsometatarsus.

References

Prehistoric ornithurans Maastrichtian genera Cretaceous Antarctica Fossils of Antarctica Dinosaurs of Antarctica Fossil taxa described in 2020 {{Theropod-stub