CRETACEOUS BIRDS OF LATIN-AMERICA

The fossil record of cretaceous birds from Latin America comprises occurrences in Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. Three different phylods of birds have been recognized: (1) the enantiornithines, the best represented, which probably had an important radiation in South America, (2) a new group of cursorial birds, which apparently acquired flightlessness independently from all other known birds, and (3) a marine group of foot-propelled divers. South American Cretaceous terrestrial birds show no clear affinities to modern birds, otherwise well known in the Late Cretaceous of North America. The apparent absence of the latter during the Late Cretaceous in South America, combined with the radiation of the enantiornithines, may indicate that South American Cretaceous avifaunas were isolated from those of the northern hemisphere. © 1991.