Eleutherornis

Eleutherornis cotei is an extinct flightless predatory cariamiform bird which lived during the Middle Eocene of France and Switzerland. Since the early 20th century, researchers have initially described the fossils of Eleutherornis as separate taxa, some remains as a species of Gastornis and others as an ancient ratite related to modern ostriches. However, subsequent analyses have questioned the original interpretations, and a thorough reexamination in 2013 indicated that all of these described remains represent the same species.