''Garganoaetus'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of buteonin

accipitrid 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-si ...

bird of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predators h ...

from the early

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. ''G. freudenthali'' was comparable in size to a golden eagle; ''G. murivorus'' was hawk sized. Species of ''Garganoaetus'' would have lived alongside other Gargano island animals, such as large dormice '' Stertomys'' and '' Hattomys'' hamsters, the giant, long-skulled ''

Deinogalerix ''Deinogalerix'' (from Ancient Greek, "terrible/terror" + ''Galerix'') is an extinct genus of gymnure which lived in Italy in the Late Miocene, 7-10 million years ago. The genus was apparently endemic to what was then the island of Gargano, whic ...

moonrat The moonrat (''Echinosorex gymnura'') is a southeast Asian species of mammal in the family Erinaceidae (hedgehogs and gymnures). It is the only species in the genus ''Echinosorex''. The moonrat is a fairly small, primarily carnivorous animal whi ...

s, an otter, ''

Prolagus ''Prolagus'' is an extinct genus of pika within the order Lagomorpha. Over 20 species of ''Prolagus'' have been named, beginning in the Early Miocene in Europe 20 million years ago, where it ranged widely for most of the epoch; by the end of the ...

'' pikas, and the multi-horned artiodactyl '' Hoplitomeryx''.

References

Accipitridae Extinct birds of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1973 Pliocene birds Prehistoric bird genera {{Paleo-bird-stub