Phorusrhacidae
| Phorusrhacids Fossil range: Middle Paleocene - Late Pliocene |
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 Drawing of Phorusrhacos longissimus, a
phorusrhacoid, by Charles R. Knight
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Extinct (fossil)
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Phorusrhacids (family Phorusrhacidae) or terror birds were large carnivorous flightless birds that were the dominant predators in South America during the Cenozoic, 62–2 million years ago. They were roughly 1–3 meters (3–10 feet) tall. Their closest modern-day relatives are believed to be the seriemas. Titanis walleri, one of the larger species, is known from North America, and is the only phorusrachid species known from outside of South America. This makes it the only known example of a large native South American predator managing to spread north during the Great American Interchange (which occurred after formation of the Isthmus of Panama land bridge 3 Ma ago). The ancestors of T. walleri have not been found; however, it is possible that more North American species await discovery.
A new (2006) specimen from Patagonia represents the largest bird skull found yet; it has not been formally described yet but might belong to a new taxon. [1]
Phorusrhacids are colloquially known as "terror birds", because their larger species were top-level predators and among the most fearsome carnivores of their habitat. Their wings had evolved into meathook-like structures that likely could be outstretched like arms to perform a hacking motion which theoretically would prove helpful in bringing down prey. Most of the smaller and some of the larger species are believed to have been fast runners.
Taxonomy
Following the revision by Alvarenga and Höfling (2003), there are now 5 subfamilies, containing 13 genera and 17 species:
- Subfamily Brontornithinae - gigantic species, standing over 2 meters high
- Genus Brontornis
- Brontornis burmeisteri
- Genus Physornis
- Physornis fortis
- Genus Paraphysornis
- Paraphysornis brasiliensis
- Genus Brontornis
- Subfamily Phorusrhacinae — gigantic species, but somewhat smaller and decidedly more nimble than the Brontornithinae
- Genus Phorusrhacos
- Phorusrhacos longissimus
- Genus Devincenzia
- Devincenzia pozzi
- Genus Titanis
- Titanis walleri
- Genus Phorusrhacos
- Subfamily Patagornithinae — medium-sized and very nimble species, standing around 1.5 m high
- Genus Patagornis
- Patagornis marshi
- Genus Andrewsornis
- Andrewsornis abbotti
- Genus Andalgalornis
- Andalgalornis steulleti
- Genus Patagornis
- Subfamily Psilopterinae — small species, standing 70–100 cm high
- Genus Psilopterus
- Psilopterus bachmanni
- Psilopterus lemoinei
- Psilopterus affinis
- Psilopterus colzecus
- Genus Procariama
- Procariama simplex
- Genus Paleopsilopterus
- Paleopsilopterus itaboraiensis
- Genus Psilopterus
- Subfamily Mesembriornithinae — medium-sized species, standing between 1 and 1.5 m high
- Genus Mesembriornis
- Mesembriornis milneedwardsi
- Mesembriornis incertus
- Genus Mesembriornis
Alvarenga and Höfling do not include the Sophiornithidae from Europe in the phorusrhacoids; these have meanwhile turned out to be primitive relatives of owls (Mayr 2005).
Popular culture
The impressive size and fearsome habits of these birds, as well as the late survival of Titanis (which at one time was - erroneously - believed to have been encountered by humans) caused phorusrhacids to feature in some works of popular culture (see also Titanis). Phorusrhacos longissimus made an appearance in one episode of the series Walking with Beasts and Prehistoric Park. The "Carakiller", a fictional bird from the "what-if" series The Future Is Wild, is a caracara which had evolved into a phorusrhacid-like animal that essentially fills the same ecological niche as Andalgalornis did 7 million years before the episode takes place.
References
- Alvarenga, Herculano M. F. & Höfling, Elizabeth (2003): Systematic revision of the Phorusrhacidae (Aves: Ralliformes). Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 43(4): 55-91 PDF fulltext
- Ameghino, F. (1889): Contribuición al conocimiento de los mamíferos fósiles de la República Argentina. Actas Academia Nacional Ciencias de Córdoba 6: 1-1028.
- Mayr, Gerald (2005): "Old World phorusrhacids" (Aves, Phorusrhacidae): a new look at Strigogyps ("Aenigmavis") sapea (Peters 1987). PaleoBios (Berkeley) 25(1): 11-16 HTML abstract
External links
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