#palaeogna

By José Carlos Cortés on @quetzalcuetzpalin-art​

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Name: Pseudocrypturus cercanaxius

Status: Extinct

First Described: 1988

Described By: Houde

Classification: Dinosauria, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Palaeognathae, Lithornithidae

Pseudocrypturus is our next Lithornithid, known from the Green River Formation of Wyoming, living approximately somewhere between 53.5 and 48.5 million years ago, in the Ypresian of the Eocene of the Paleogene. It is known from an entire skeleton on a slab, which is beautifully preserved and often used as the titular fossil for Lithornithids. 

By Ghedoghedo, CC BY-SA 3.0

You can see here some of the distinctive features of the Lithornithids as shown in Pseudocrypturus - a long, pointed beak, long legs, and long wings for soaring, as well as a long neck that allowed for the animal to reach remote sources of food. Pseudocrypturus was one of the smallest Lithornithids, about half the size of the largest, Paracathartes. This means it’s entirely possible that Pseudocrypturus spent more time in the trees perching than its larger relative. 

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudocrypturus