Teratornithidae

Teratornithidae is an extinct family of very large birds of prey that lived in North and South America from the Late Oligocene to Late Pleistocene. They include some of the largest known flying birds. Its members are known as teratorns.

Teratornis (Greek: "wonder" (teras / gen.sg. teratos), "bird" (ornis)) is an extinct genus of huge North American birds of prey—the best-known of the teratorns—of which, two species are known to have existed: Teratornis merriami and Teratornis woodburnensis. A large number of fossil and subfossil bones, representing more than 100 individuals, have been found in locations in California, Oregon, southern Nevada, Arizona, and Florida, though most are from the Californian La Brea Tar Pits. All remains except one Early Pleistocene partial skeleton from the Leisey Shell Pit near Charlotte Harbor, Fl

Argentavis is an extinct genus of teratornithid known from three sites in the Epecuén and Andalhualá Formations in central and northwestern Argentina dating to the Late Miocene (Huayquerian). The type species, A. magnificens, is sometimes called the giant teratorn. Argentavis was among the largest flying birds to ever exist, holding the record for heaviest flying bird, although it was surpassed in wingspan after the 2014 description of Pelagornis sandersi, which is estimated to have possessed wings some 20% longer than those of Argentavis.

Cathartornis ("Cathartes Bird") is an ancient bird of the Teratornithidae family. The genus contains a single species, Cathartornis gracilis, known from only two tarsometatarsi, one complete and one containing only the distal end, recovered from the Late Pleistocene La Brea Tar Pits in Southern California. Since then, no other fossils have officially been referred to the taxon, though some fossils assigned to Teratornis could be from Cathartornis and unpublished remains have been mentioned.

Oscaravis is an extinct genus of large, predatory bird that inhabited what is now modern-day Cuba before going extinct at the end of the Pleistocene epoch. The sole species, Oscaravis olsoni (also known as the Cuban teratorn), was previously assigned to the genus Teratornis. However, it has recently been granted a new genus due to its ecological isolation from others in the teratorn family, as well as differences in size and possibly behavior. Although no exact measurements can be stated, due to recent archaeological findings and the comparison of Oscaravis bone lengths with that of other tera

Taubatornis is an extinct genus of teratorn from the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene (Deseadan) Tremembé Formation, in the Taubaté Basin, São Paulo state, Brazil. The type species is T. campbelli. It is the oldest known member of the family, about 25 million years old. The presence of a member of this family with this age supports the hypothesis of a South American origin for the Teratornithidae.