Resembling or characteristic of Hesperornis, particularly in being a flightless aquatic diving bird.
From Hesperornis + Greek -oid (resembling). Describes any creature or fossil showing characteristics similar to Hesperornis.
When paleontologists find an ancient bird fossil, calling it 'hesperornithoid' is shorthand for 'it's basically a swimming bird that forgot how to fly'—a pretty cool lifestyle strategy!
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