''Maaqwi'' is an extinct
genus of large
marine
Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean.
Marine or marines may refer to:
Ocean
* Maritime (disambiguation)
* Marine art
* Marine biology
* Marine debris
* Marine habitats
* Marine life
* Marine pollution
Military
* ...
diving
bird from the
Late Cretaceous (
Northumberland Formation, latest
Campanian) of
Hornby Island,
British Columbia,
Canada.
The genus name ''Maaqwi'' comes from the
Coast Salish "ma'aqwi" meaning "water bird," and the specific epithet ''cascadensis'' reflects the fossil's origin from the
Cascadia region of Western North America. The genus is known from a single specimen, RBCM.EH2008.011.01120. It consists of a
coracoid,
humerus
The humerus (; ) is a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. It connects the scapula and the two bones of the lower arm, the radius and ulna, and consists of three sections. The humeral upper extremity consists of a roun ...
,
ulna, and
radius in a
nodule of
mudstone
Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from '' shale'' by its lack of fissility (parallel layering).Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology. ...
. The specimen is housed in the
Royal British Columbia Museum. ''Maaqwi'' had an estimated body mass of 1.5 kg.
References
Late Cretaceous birds of North America
Prehistoric bird genera
Prehistoric ornithurans
{{Cretaceous-animal-stub