"Styginetta"

"Styginetta"Styx River Duck
Classification
Domain	Eukaryota
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Chordata
Subphylum	Vertebrata
Superclass	Tetrapoda
Clade	Sauropsida
Class	Reptilia
Clade	Archosauria Avemetatarsalia Ornithodira Dinosauria Saurischia Theropoda Neotheropoda Averostra Tetanurae Orionides Avetheropoda Coelurosauria Maniraptora Paraves Avialae Odontoanserae Anserimorphae
Family	Presbyornithidae
Species	"Styginetta lofgreni"
Presence
Location	Hell Creek Formation, Montana - South Dakota, USA Lance Formation, Montana - Wyoming, USA Fort Union Formation, Montana - Wyoming, USA Denver Formation, Colorado, USA
Temporal Range	70 - 59.2 million years ago, Maastrichtian - Selandian Stage, Late Cretaceous - Early Paleocene Period
Episodes	North America (Segment 3)
Characteristics
Height	40 centimeters (15.75 inches)
Diet	Insectivorous

“ Flocks of Styginetta, a primitive relative of ducks, stop here on their travels. ”

― David Attenborough, North America

"Styginetta" (Styx River Duck) is a genus of presbyornithid anserimorph bird that lived in North America 70 - 66 million years ago, during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period. It was only described and named in an unpublished doctoral thesis made by Dr. Thomas Allen Stidham in 2001, hence, due to not being established yet, its name remains unitalicized in writing, and, should it be officially described by someone else, it can even be given a different name.

Paleobiology

"Styginetta" is an presbyornithid bird that is depicted as an insectivorous water skimmer that resembles a cross between a duck and a flamingo.

Paleoecology

Paleoenvironment

Main: Hell Creek and Lance Formations

Main: Hell Creek and Lance Formations

“ These coastal seas are full of life. Yet on land, and only a few hundred miles away, there is desolation. Here, powerful movements deep in the Earth's crust are beginning to raise the Rocky Mountains. ”

― David Attenborough, North America

"Styginetta" lived 70 - 59.2 million years ago in Laramidia, an island continent that would one day become western North America, which, by that time, was split in half by an inland sea. Remains have been excavated from the Hell Creek Formation, which stretched from Montana to South Dakota, as well as the Lance Formation in Wyoming and the Fort Union Formation which overlies both of the other two formations. These formations show that the sort of world that "Styginetta" lived in was one dominated by rivers, forests, and coastal plains, regions kept constantly humid by ample rainfall and a subtropical climate warmer than these areas are today (hence, there was no cold season in those regions back then).

A soda lake in the Denver Formation

“ The immense changes in the landscape have cut off this lake from nearby rivers. Its waters evaporate in the strong winds and intense summer sun, and the minerals that have dissolved in it are beginning to reach toxic levels. For most, this water is simply too poisonous to drink. Even so, every year, this place is visited by all kinds of animals. ”

― David Attenborough, North America

Prehistoric Planet depicts "Styginetta" as visiting a lake hundreds of miles from the sea, slowly evaporating and degrading into toxicity due to the same tectonic movements raising the Rocky Mountains. This soda lake is depicted as being in the Denver Formation of Colorado. Little is known about the area, and "Styginetta" fossils have yet to actually be found there. However, deposits indicate that there were floodplains, marshes, and rivers that formed by the foot of the growing Rocky Mountains during that time, and it is possible that "Styginetta" lived in other areas of the US outside of the Hell Creek, Lance, and Fort Union Formations.

Around 66.043 million years ago, the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event wiped out three-quarters of all life on Earth, including all non-avian dinosaurs, though several avian dinosaur (bird) species have also been heavily affected. Strangely, "Styginetta" survived this catastrophe, as its presence is known from the Fort Union Formation which lies over the Hell Creek and Lance Formations, with an approximate age of 66 - 59.2 million years.

Social Behavior

"Styginettas" appear to be curious and observant. These behavior is meant to help them detect danger, given how they are small and vulnerable, the ideal snack for small predators (which can avoid their watchful eyes by approaching them silently from behind while they are focused on something else). Their flocking behavior allows for safety in numbers, which protects the many at the expense of the few who are targeted by predators, with one being singled out and caught by a Pectinodon while the rest of its flock escapes.

Appearance

	North America, Segment III
	Setting Denver Formation, Colorado, USA Filming Location Mono Lake, Mono County, California

North America, Segment III

Setting
Denver Formation, Colorado, USA

Filming Location
Mono Lake, Mono County, California

In the third segment of North America, many animals are shown visiting an evaporating toxic lake for feeding opportunities. Among them, "Styginetta", a primitive relative of ducks, and a family of dinosaurs. Six juvenile Pectinodons poke out from the rocks, lead to the toxic lake by their father.

“ These dinosaurs and the Styginetta are both drawn here by a strange seasonal bonanza. Flies. The larvae of these insects are able to filter out the lake's toxic salts, and, as a consequence, they thrive in immense numbers. Now, they're hatching into adults in their millions. They are a rich and abundant source of protein for all the lake's visitors. ”

― David Attenborough, North America

Watching millions of flies and emerging from the lake, the juvenile Pectinodons jump up and snap at the flies, but they soon eventually figure out that the best way to scoop up as many flies as possible is by rushing at them, stirring the flies like dirt from the ground, with their jaws gaping open to collect them in mouthfuls. A flock of "Styginetta" watch as the juveniles run around gulping flies, which eventually ends up with two of the juveniles crossing each other's paths while rushing, causing them to collide and get knocked to the ground. While all this is happening, however, the father of the Pectinodon chicks closes in on one "Styginetta" flock from behind, slowly approaching the birds while staying low, obscured by the rock and mineral pillars around the lake. By the time the birds realize he is there, the flock taking to the air, the Pectinodon leaps up and catches one by the throat in midair, swinging and slamming his prey twice to the ground before finishing off the bird with another bite.

“ Success. A rather more substantial meal for the family, and just as well. The flies will only be here for so long, and the dinosaur family will be forced to find food elsewhere. ”

― David Attenborough, North America

As the "Styginetta" fly off, with many other flocks of them still ankle-deep in the lake, looking for flies to eat, the Pectinodon father brings his catch to his six chicks, the family settling down to eat as flocks of "Styginetta" fly overhead.