A new evolutionary lineage of diving birds from the Late Cretaceous of North America and Asia

A new family, Brodavidae, with one new genus and four species, is described from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Asia and North America. These include the first freshwater occurrences and latest records of the order Hesperornithiformes, an extinct group of diving birds whose marine members had probably lost their powers of flight by the end of the Early Cretaceous. Minimal pachyostosis in the freshwater form suggests the possibility of volant abilities.