Patagornis
Sign in to savePatagornis is a genus of extinct flightless predatory birds of the family Phorusrhacidae. Known as "terror birds", these lived in what is now Argentina during the Early and Middle Miocene; the Santa Cruz Formation in Patagonia contains numerous specimens. Patagornis was an agile, medium sized Patagornithine and was likely a pursuit predator.
Wikidata facts
- Parent taxon
- Phorusrhacidae
- Image
- Patagornis marshiDB24.jpg
Show 5 more facts
- Commons category
- Patagornis
- taxon rank
- genus
- taxon name
- Patagornis
- start time
- 17500000-0
- end time
- 11600000-0
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Encyclopedic overview
8 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History and taxonomy
- Description and paleobiology
- Ear anatomy
- Classification
- Paleoenvironment
- References
- External links
Patagornis is a genus of extinct flightless predatory birds of the family Phorusrhacidae. Known as "terror birds", these lived in what is now Argentina during the Early and Middle Miocene; the Santa Cruz Formation in Patagonia contains numerous specimens. Patagornis was an agile, medium sized Patagornithine and was likely a pursuit predator.
== Etymology == The genus name means "bird from Patagonia" after the location the fossils were found in and the species name after prominent American paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh, who had also named notable fossil birds but from the American West like Hesperornis and Ichthyornis.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Patagornis” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.