hesperornis

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The typical genus of fossil birds of the family Hesperornithidæ. The best-known species is H. regalis, discovered in 1870 in the yellow chalk of the pteranodon beds of Kansas. O. C. Marsh, 1872.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A genus of large, extinct, wingless birds from the Cretaceous deposits of Kansas, belonging to the Odontornithes. They had teeth, and were essentially carnivorous swimming ostriches. Several species are known. See Illust. in Append.