''Paracathartes'' is a genus of extinct bird from the Wasachtian horizon of lower Eocene Wyoming. One species, ''Paracathartes howardae'' has been described. It is a

paleognathous Palaeognathae (; ) is a infraclass of birds, called paleognaths, within the class Aves of the clade Archosauria. It is one of the two extant infraclasses of birds, the other being Neognathae, both of which form Neornithes. Palaeognathae contain ...

bird, turkey-like in stature and size, that probably resembled a tinamou quite closely. ''Paracathartes'' was described by Harrison as the earliest known cathartid vulture. Rich criticized this assignment.Rich, P. V. (1983) Houde (1988) included it as a member of the order Lithornithiformes and family Lithornithidae.Houde, Peter W. (1988) The holotype specimen is in the collection of the

Royal Ontario Museum The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...

. It has catalog number ROM 22658. It is the distal end of a left tibiotarsus. It was collected by G. E. Lindblad and G. Sternberg on 4 August 1949. It was found at the northernmost branch of Elk Creek, near Basin, Wyoming. The horizon is Greybullian, middle Wasatchian (early Eocene), Willwood Formation, Bighorn Basin. Further specimens of ''Paracathartes'' were collected, including almost the whole skeleton (USNM 361402-361446, 391984, 404747-404806) from at least five individuals preserved together. These bones were associated with three whole eggs (USNM 336564) and an avian neurocranium (USNM 361415) which may belong to ''Paracathartes'' or to a possible phorusrhacid.Harrison, C. J. O. (1979)

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* * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q7133802 Fossil taxa described in 1979 Lithornithidae Paleogene birds of Europe Eocene genus extinctions Paleogene birds of North America Paleontology in Wyoming