500 FOSSIL VERTEBRATES/Birds Table Fossil Mesozoic birds, their ages and environments (Chiappe and Dyke, 2002) Taxon Stratigraphical age Material Alexornis antecedens Alvarezsaurus calvoi Ambiortus dementjevi Apatornis celer Apsaravis ukaani Archaeopteryx lithographica Archaeovolans repatriatus Avisaurus archibaldi Avisaurus gloriae Baptornis advenus Boluochia zhengi Changchengornis hengdaoziensis Chaoyangia beishanensis Concornis lacustris Confuciusornis sanctus Late Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Early Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Early Cretaceous Late Jurassic Early Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Early Cretaceous Early Cretaceous Early Cretaceous Early Cretaceous Early Cretaceous Enaliornis barretti Enantiornis leali Eoalulavis hoyasi Eoenantiornis buhleri Gansus yumensis Gobipteryx minuta Halimornis thompsoni Hesperornis regalis Iberomesornis romerali Ichthyornis dispar Lectavis bretincola Liaoningornis longidigitus Limenavis patagonica Longipteryx chaoyangensis Mononykus olecranus Nanantius eos Neuquenornis volans Noguerornis gonzalezi Otogornis genhisi Parahesperornis alexi Parvicursor remotus Patagonykus puertai Patagopteryx deferrarisi Protopteryx fengningensis Rahonavis ostromi Shuvuuia deserti Sinornis santensis Soroavisaurus australis Vorona berivotrensis Yanornis martini Yixianornis grabaui Early Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Early Cretaceous Early Cretaceous Early Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Early Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Early Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Early Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Early Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Early Cretaceous Early Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Early Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Early Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Late Cretaceous Early Cretaceous Early Cretaceous Single specimen Single specimen Single specimen Single specimen Single specimen Several specimens Single specimen Single bone Single bone Several specimens Single specimen Single specimen Single specimen Single specimen Hundreds of specimens Several specimens Several specimens Single specimen Single specimen Isolated bones Several specimens Single specimen Several specimens Single specimen Several specimens Single bone Single specimen Single specimen Single specimen Several specimens Single bone Single specimen Single specimen Single specimen Single specimen Single specimen Single specimen Single specimen Single specimen Single specimen Several specimens Several specimens Single bone Single specimen Single specimen Single specimen the repatriation of avian ecological niches that were occupied by more archaic birds during the Cretaceous These ideas are based on literal readings of the known fossil record of Neornithes – small numbers of taxa (perhaps misidentified) from the Cretaceous, compared with a much larger diversity of definitive Neornithes from the Early Tertiary Can Depositional environment Geographical distribution Year described Inland Inland Inland Marine Inland Near shore Inland Inland Inland Marine Inland Inland Inland Inland Inland Mexico Argentina Mongolia USA Mongolia Germany China USA USA USA China China China Spain China 1974 1991 1982 1876 2001 1861 2002 1985 1995 1876 1994 1999 1995 1995 1996 Marine Inland Inland Inland Near shore Inland Near shore Marine Inland Marine Inland Inland Inland Inland Inland Inland Inland Inland Inland Marine Inland Inland Inland Inland Inland Inland Inland Inland Inland Inland Inland UK Argentina Spain China Canada Mongolia USA USA Spain USA Argentina China Argentina China Mongolia Australia Argentina Spain China USA Mongolia Argentina Argentina China Madagascar Mongolia China Argentina Madagascar China China 1876 1976 1992 1999 1997 1996 2001 1876 1993 1873 1993 1996 2001 2001 1993 1986 1994 1992 1992 1989 1996 1996 1992 2000 1998 1998 1992 1993 1996 2001 2001 this approach alone resolve the age-old issue of modern-bird evolutionary dynamics? Literal interpretations of the fossil record to explain the pattern of the radiation have, however, been challenged by a number of other lines of evidence, notably the genealogical interpretation of living birds based on genetic data By considering the numbers of