''Apatosagittarius'' is an
extinct monotypic
In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of
Accipitridae
The Accipitridae is one of the three families within the order Accipitriformes, and is a family of small to large birds with strongly hooked bills and variable morphology based on diet. They feed on a range of prey items from insects to medium-s ...
from the Late
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), 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 mea ...
of
Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...
. Only one species has been described, ''Apatosagittarius terrenus''. The genus name, which Feduccia and Voorhies translate as "false secretarybird,"
[FEDUCCIA, ALAN, and MICHAEL R. VOORHIES. "Miocene hawk converges on secretarybird." Ibis 131.3 (1989): 349-35]
Abstract
/ref>[Tucker, S. T., et al. "The geology and paleontology of Ashfall Fossil Beds, a late Miocene (Clarendonian) mass-death assemblage, Antelope County and adjacent Knox County, Nebraska, USA." GSA Field Guides 36 (2014): 1-22.] refers to the bird's superficial resemblance to the living secretary bird
The secretarybird or secretary bird (''Sagittarius serpentarius'') is a large, mostly terrestrial bird of prey. Endemic to Africa, it is usually found in the open grasslands and savanna of the sub-Saharan region. John Frederick Miller describe ...
.
References
Accipitridae
Miocene birds of North America
Prehistoric bird genera
{{Accipitriformes-stub