''Thegornis'' is an extinct genus of

Falconidae The falcons and caracaras are around 60 species of diurnal birds of prey that make up the family Falconidae (representing all extant species in the order Falconiformes). The family is divided into three subfamilies, Herpetotherinae, which inclu ...

that lived during the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. The genus was erected by

Florentino Ameghino Florentino Ameghino (born Giovanni Battista Fiorino Giuseppe Ameghino September 19, 1853 – August 6, 1911) was an Argentine naturalist, paleontologist, anthropologist and zoologist, whose fossil discoveries on the Argentine Pampas, especially ...

in 1895. Its skull and postcranial morphology are similar to the

laughing falcon The laughing falcon (''Herpetotheres cachinnans''), also called the snake hawk (erroneously, since it is not a hawk), is a medium-sized bird of prey in the falcon family ( Falconidae), the only member of the genus ''Herpetotheres''. This Neotro ...

and

forest falcon Forest falcons are members of the genus ''Micrastur'', part of the family Falconidae. They are endemic to the Americas, found from Mexico in the north, south through Central America and large parts of South America, and as far south as northern A ...

and also closely related. The

seriema The seriemas are the sole living members of the small bird family Cariamidae, which is also the only surviving lineage of the order Cariamiformes. Once believed to be related to cranes, they have been placed near the falcons, parrots and passeri ...

'' Noriegavis'' holotype was transferred to this genus and the well-preserved specimen described in 2015 attributed to ''Noriegavis'' has been classified into '' Miocariama''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q85808955 Falconidae Neogene birds of South America Prehistoric bird genera