Hesperornithiformes (Aves: Ornithurae) were flightless foot-propelled diving
birds that lived during the Late Cretaceous and have a good fossil record compared to
most Mesozoic birds. Extinct taxa are often identified using fragmentary or isolated
specimens, and several species of Hesperornis have been named from the morphology of
the tarsometatarsus, often relying on size for taxonomic differentiation. However, little
has been done to examine intraspecific variation in this bone and evaluate its use for
taxonomic identification.
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