Apatornis fossil map
Where fossils of Apatornis have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 85 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 85 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Theropods |
|---|---|
| Lived | 89.8–83.6 million years ago (Coniacian to Santonian) |
| Periods | Cretaceous |
| Named by | Marsh 1873 |
| Fossil records | 1 occurrences at 1 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | United States |
| Rock formations | Niobrara |
About Apatornis
Apatornis is a genus of ornithuran dinosaurs endemic to North America during the late Cretaceous. It currently contains a single species, Apatornis celer, which lived around the Santonian-Campanian boundary, dated to about 83.5 million years ago. The remains of this species were found in the Smoky Hill Chalk of the Niobrara Formation in Kansas, United States. It is known from a single fossil specimen: a synsacrum, the fused series of vertebrae over the hips.
While the known fossil remains are very incomplete, enough has been found to reasonably estimate that the body length was between 7–8 inches (18–20 cm).
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Apatornis (revision 1312959688), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q4779241.
