Titanis: Information from Answers.com

Titanis
Fossil range: Pliocene, 5–2 Ma

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Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Cariamae
Family:	Phorusrhacidae
Genus:	Titanis Brodkorb, 1963

Species

T. walleri Brodkorb, 1963 (type)

Titanis is a genus of very large predatory flightless bird. The only member species of the genus Titanis is T. walleri, named in honor of the holotype's collector, Benjamin I. Waller. It lived approximately 5-2 million years ago (early - late Pliocene) in North America, fossil evidence having been found in Florida and Texas. From circumstantial evidence, it has been suggested that the species did not become extinct until 15,000 years ago,^[1] but more precise dating by McFadden and colleagues refutes such a late date; all known Titanis fossils appear to be at least 2 million years old.^[2]^[3] Titanis was part of the group of giant flightless birds called the Phorusrhacidae, which are nicknamed "terror birds", and represents the youngest species of the lineage. The Phorusrhacidae originated in South America; Titanis is the only known member of the branch of the group that migrated out of that continent during the Great American Interchange.

1 Etymology
2 Description
3 In popular culture
4 References
5 External links

Etymology

The bird was named Titanis after the titans, Ancient Greek gods that preceded the Twelve Olympians, in allusion to the bird's size.

Description

It was 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) tall and weighed approximately 150 kilograms (330 lb), but with large variance (perhaps indicating strong sexual dimorphism).^[4] Though its head has not been found, it certainly would have been large, with a huge, axe-like beak, as in its relatives.

The wings were small and could not have been used for flight. The wing bones articulated in an unusual joint-like structure, suggesting the digits could flex to some degree. It also had a relatively rigid wrist, which would not have allowed the hand to fold back against the arm to the same degree as other birds. This led one scientist, R.M. Chandler, to suggest that the wings may have supported some type of clawed, mobile hand similar to the hands of non-avian theropod dinosaurs.^[5] However, it was later pointed out that this wing joint and wrist structure is not in fact unique, and is present in seriamas (modern members of the same bird group to which Titanis belonged), which do not have any specialized grasping hands.^[6]

Overall, Titanis was very similar to the South American Phorusrhacos and Devincenzia, its closest relatives. Little is known of its body structure, but it seems to have been less wide-footed than Devincenzia, with a proportionally much stronger middle toe.^[7] (Onactornis is now considered a junior synonym of Devincenzia).

In popular culture

The Flock, a novel by James Robert Smith published in August 2006, featured a surviving group of Titanis walleri in central Florida. Titanis will reportedly make an appearance in the third season of the ITV science-fiction television series Primeval, with a similar visual style to the Phorusrhacos in one of Impossible Pictures' other prehistory-based television programs, Walking With Beasts.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ Baskin, J. A. (1995). "The giant flightless bird Titanis walleri (Aves: Phorusrhacidae) from the Pleistocene coastal plain of South Texas". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 15 (4): 842–844.
^ McFadden, B.; Labs-Hochstein, J.; Hulbert, R. C., Jr.; Baskin, J. A. (2006). "Refined age of the late Neogene terror bird (Titanis) from Florida and Texas using rare earth elements". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26 (3): 92A (Supplement). http://users.tamuk.edu/kfjab02/pdf%20jpg%20gif%20files/Titanis%20SVP.pdf.
^ McFadden, B.; Labs-Hochstein, J.; Hulbert, R.C., Jr.; Baskin, J.A. (2007). "Revised age of the late Neogene terror bird (Titanis) in North America during the Great American Interchange". Geology 35 (2): 123–126. doi:10.1130/G23186A.1.
^ Alvarenga, H. M. F.; Höfling, E. (2003). "Systematic revision of the Phorusrhacidae (Aves: Ralliformes)". Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 43 (4): 55–91.
^ Chandler, R.M. (1994). "The wing of Titanis walleri (Aves: Phorusrhacidae) from the Late Blancan of Florida." Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History, Biological Sciences, 36: 175-180.
^ Gould, G.C. and Quitmyer, I.R. (2005). "Titanis walleri: bones of contention." Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History, 45: 201-229.
^ Brodkorb, P. (1963). "A giant flightless bird from the Pleistocene of Florida". Auk 80 (2): 111–115. http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Auk/v080n02/p0111-p0115.pdf.