Argentavis
Sign in to saveArgentavis 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.
Article
11 sectionsContents
- History of discovery
- Classification
- Description
- Size
- Paleobiology
- Life history
- Flight
- Predatory behavior
- References
- Further reading
- External links
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.
==History of discovery== The first remains of Argentavis were found during an expedition by the Museo de La Plata, roughly 15 km south of Hidalgo station, at the Salinas Grandes de Hidalgo locality in the Huayquerian Epecuén (now Cerro Azul) Formation of La Pampa Province, Argentina, by Rosendo Pascual and Eduardo Tonni. This material consisted of an associated partial skeleton with portions of the skull, right quadrate and parts of the legs and arms. The material was then brought to the Museo de La Plata and housed under specimen number MLP 65-VII-29-49. It was cast at the Los Angeles County Museum.