The avialan fauna of the late Cretaceous Prince Creek Formation, Alaska

Abstract

Modern polar regions are critical breeding grounds for over 250 species of birds. Some migrate to high latitudes for access to seasonally abundant resources during reproductive periods, whereas others are year-round residents. Despite the major role these birds play in polar ecosystems, we know very little of the origins of the utilization of polar ecosystems for nesting due to the rarity of avialan fossils from high latitudes. The avialan fossil record spans 150 million years, yet evidence for high-latitude bird reproduction extends only to the Eocene La Meseta Formation of Antarctica (56-33.6 Ma). Here, we report a remarkable polar avifauna from the northernmost fossil-bearing Late Cretaceous ecosystem in the world, the Prince Creek Formation of northern Alaska (PCF). The PCF was deposited at 80-85°N paleolatitude, where continuous summer daylight would have lasted nearly six months. It preserves an ancient polar ecosystem including avian and non-avian dinosaurs, mammals, and fishes. The PCF avialan material was found as part of a decade-long microfossil analysis of channel lag deposits. Numerous skeletal elements, representing almost the entire avialan skeleton, constitute one of the most comprehensive and well-preserved Late Cretaceous avifaunas in the world. These fossils share morphological affinities with hesperornithines, ichthyornithines, and crown birds. Further, abundant perinatal fossils represent the youngest-known growth stages of Mesozoic euornithines. This is the oldest direct evidence for polar bird reproduction and demonstrates that multi ---taxic bird nesting has occurred in the High Arctic for at least 73 million years--nearly half the tenure for birds on Earth. Likewise, these fossils demonstrate that this behavior originated in the Mesozoic ancestors of modern birds, millions of years before the radiation of crown group birds following the end-Cretaceous mass extinction.