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Cariamiformes
Cariamiformes (or Cariamae) is an order of primarily flightless birds that has existed for over 60 million years. The group includes the family Cariamidae (seriemas) and the extinct families Phorusrhacidae, Bathornithidae, Idiornithidae and Ameghinornithidae. Though traditionally considered a suborder within Gruiformes, both morphological and genetic studies show that it belongs to a separate group of birds, Australaves, whose other living members are Falconidae, Psittaciformes and Passeriformes. This proposal has been confirmed by a 2014 study of whole genomes of 48 representative bird species. This analysis shows that the Cariamiformes are basal among extant Australaves, while falcons are next most basal; in combination with the fact that the two most basal branches of Afroaves (New World vultures plus Accipitriformes, and owls) are also predatory, it is inferred that the common ancestor of 'core landbirds' ( Telluraves) was an apex predator. However, some researchers li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elaphrocnemus
''Elaphrocnemus'' is a genus of extinct bird from the Eocene and Oligocene periods of Europe. Part of Cariamiformes, its closest living relatives are seriemas, though it differs significantly from them, being a better flyer. Classification Since its original description ''Elaphrocnemus'' has been regarded as a cariamiform bird. It was referred to the family Orthocnemidae, since them absorbed into Idiornithidae.Cécile MOURER-CHAUVIRÉ, LES GRUIFORMES (A VES) DES PHOSPHORITES DU QUERCY (FRANCE). 1. SOUS-ORDRE CARIAMAE (CARIAMIDAE ET PHORUSRHACIDAE). SYSTÉMATIQUE ET BIOSTRATIGRAPHIE. However, relationships within Cariamiformes are unresolved, as several studies render Idiornithidae as polyphyletic, with ''Elaphrocnemus'' recovered away from other "idiornithids", outside of the clade leading to them and modern seriemas. Some authorities renders the genus a synonym of '' Talantatos'', though some recent studies recover it as independent from this genus. A possibly closely rela ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gruiformes
The Gruiformes are an order containing a considerable number of living and extinct bird families, with a widespread geographical diversity. Gruiform means "crane-like". Traditionally, a number of wading and terrestrial bird families that did not seem to belong to any other order were classified together as Gruiformes. These include 14 species of large cranes, about 145 species of smaller crakes and rails, as well as a variety of families comprising one to three species, such as the Heliornithidae, the limpkin, or the Psophiidae. Other birds have been placed in this order more out of necessity to place them ''somewhere''; this has caused the expanded Gruiformes to lack distinctive apomorphies. Recent studies indicate that these "odd Gruiformes" are if at all only loosely related to the cranes, rails, and relatives ("core Gruiformes"). Systematics There are only two suprafamilial clades (natural groups) among the birds traditionally classified as Gruiformes. Rails (Rallidae), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kelenken
''Kelenken'' is a genus of phorusrhacid ("terror bird"), an extinct group of large, predatory birds, which lived in what is now Argentina in the middle Miocene about 15 million years ago. The only known specimen was discovered by high school student Guillermo Aguirre-Zabala in Comallo, in the region of Patagonia, and was made the holotype of the new genus and species ''Kelenken guillermoi'' in 2007. The genus name references a spirit in Tehuelche mythology, and the specific name honors the discoverer. The holotype consists of one of the most complete skulls known of a large phorusrhacid, as well as a tarsometatarsus lower leg bone and a phalanx toe bone. The discovery of ''Kelenken'' clarified the anatomy of large phorusrhacids, as these were previously much less well known. The closest living relatives of the phorusrhacids are the seriemas. ''Kelenken'' was found to belong in the subfamily Phorusrhacinae, along with for example '' Devincenzia''. Phorusrhacids were large, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bathornithidae
Bathornithidae is an extinct family of birds from the Eocene to Miocene of North America. Part of Cariamiformes, they are related to the still extant seriemas and the also extinct Phorusrhacidae. They were likely similar in habits, being terrestrial, long-legged predators, some of which attained massive sizes. It has been suggested that most, if not all, North American Paleogene cariamiforme fossils are part of this group. Storrs Olson also referred the European ''Elaphrocnemus'' to this clade, though it has since been rejected. Conversely, some analysis have instead recovered them as a polyphyletic group, with '' Bathornis'' and kin being sister taxa to phorusrhacids while '' Paracrax'' is rendered closer to modern seriemas, though this assessment is heavily debated.Mayr, G., & Noriega, J. I. A well-preserved partial skeleton of the poorly known early Miocene seriema ''Noriegavis santacrucensis'' (Aves, Cariamidae). ''Acta palaeontologica Polonica'', 60(3):589-598. The most r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Idiornithidae
Idiornithidae is an extinct family of Cariamiformes. Fossils of these birds were found mainly in the phosphorus layers of Quercy in south-western France. Other specimens have been found throughout Germany as well. Description The Idiornithidae were medium-sized birds with slender, long legs. Several postcranial bones of the genera ''Gypsornis'' and ''Idiornis'' have been found, with the only species leaving behind an articulated skeleton with the skull intact.The limited fossil evidence suggested that Idiornithidae much resembled seriemas. They were, however, smaller, some of them the size of the average pheasant. Until recently, idiornithids were commonly regarded as a suborder of the Gruiformes, but they are now classified as Cariamiformes. References * Gerald MayrPaleogene Fossil Birds Springer, 2009, Prehistoric bird families {{bird-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red-legged Seriema
The red-legged seriema (''Cariama cristata''), also known as the crested cariama and crested seriema, is a mostly predatory terrestrial bird in the seriema family ( Cariamidae), included in the Gruiformes in the old paraphyletic circumscription but recently placed in a distinct order: Cariamiformes (along with three extinct families). The red-legged seriema is widely distributed in South America, occurring in central and eastern Brazil through eastern Bolivia and Paraguay to Uruguay and central Argentina (south to La Pampa). Like the black-legged seriema, farmers often use them as guard animals to protect poultry from predators and sometimes human intruders. Taxonomy The red-legged seriema was described in 1766 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the twelfth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. He coined the binomial name ''Palamedea cristata''. The red-legged seriema is now the only species placed in the genus ''Cariama'' that was introduced by the French zoologis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australaves
Australaves is a recently defined clade of birds, consisting of the Eufalconimorphae (passerines, parrots and falcons) as well as the Cariamiformes (including seriemas and the extinct "terror birds").Prum, R.O. ''et al''. (2015A comprehensive phylogeny of birds (Aves) using targeted next-generation DNA sequencing Nature 526, 569–573. They appear to be the sister group of Afroaves. As in the case of Afroaves, the most basal clades have predatory extant members, suggesting this was the ancestral lifestyle; however, some researchers like Darren Naish are skeptical of this assessment, since some extinct representatives such as the herbivorous '' Strigogyps'' led other lifestyles. Basal parrots and falcons are at any rate vaguely crow-like and probably omnivorous.L. D. Martin. 2010. Paleogene avifauna of the holarctic. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 48:367-374 Cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paleopsilopterus
''Paleopsilopterus'' is an extinct genus of giant flightless predatory birds within Cariamiformes. It is usually attributed to the subfamily Psilopterinae of the family Phorusrhacidae, or "terror birds", though doubts about such an identity have arisen multiple times. It lived around 53 to 50 million years ago ( Itaboraian) in Brazil, during the Early Eocene. The only known species is ''Paleopsilopterus itaboraiensis''. Fossils of ''Paleopsilopterus'' have been found in the Itaboraí Formation at São José de Itaborai in Rio de Janeiro state.''Paleopsilopterus'' at Fossilworks
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Phorusrhacidae
Phorusrhacids, colloquially known as terror birds, are an extinct clade of large carnivorous flightless birds that were one of the largest species of apex predators in South America during the Cenozoic era; their conventionally accepted temporal range covers from 62 to 0.1 million years ( Ma) ago. They ranged in height from . Their closest modern-day relatives are believed to be the seriemas. '' Titanis walleri'', one of the larger species, is known from Texas and Florida in North America. This makes the phorusrhacids the only known large South American predator to migrate north in the Great American Interchange that followed the formation of the Isthmus of Panama land bridge (the main pulse of the interchange began about 2.6 Ma ago; ''Titanis'' at 5 Ma was an early northward migrant). It was once believed that ''T. walleri'' became extinct in North America around the time of the arrival of humans, but subsequent datings of ''Titanis'' fossils provided no evidence for their s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Telluraves
Telluraves (also called land birds or core landbirds) is a recently defined clade of birds defined by their arboreality. Based on most recent genetic studies, the clade unites a variety of bird groups, including the australavians (passerines, parrots, seriemas, and falcons) as well as the afroavians (including the Accipitrimorphae – eagles, hawks, buzzards, vultures etc. – owls and woodpeckers, among others). They appear to be the sister group of the Ardeae. Given that the most basal extant members of both Afroaves (Accipitrimorphae, Strigiformes) and Australaves (Cariamiformes, Falconiformes) are carnivorous, it has been suggested that the last common ancestor of all Telluraves was probably a predator. Other researchers are skeptical of this assessment, citing the herbivorous cariamiform '' Strigogyps'' as evidence to the contrary. Afroaves has not always been recovered as a monophyletic clade in subsequent studies. For instance, Prum ''et al.'' (2015) recovered the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strigogyps
''Strigogyps'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bird from the Middle Eocene to Early Oligocene of France and Germany. It was probably around the size of a large chicken or a guan, weighing not quite . Apparently, as indicated by the ratio of lengths of wing to leg bones, ''S. sapea'' was flightless. Its legs were not adapted to running, so it seems to have had a walking lifestyle similar to trumpeters. Unlike other Cariamiformes, which appear to have been mostly carnivorous, ''Strigogyps'' specimens suggest a herbivorous diet. The type species of ''Strigogyps'' is ''S. dubius'', which was described by Gaillard in 1908. It was initially placed in the owl order Strigiformes and considered to be a sophiornithid. ''S. dubius'' is based on a single tibiotarsus from the Late Eocene to Early Oligocene Quercy phosphorites of France. This tibiotarsus was destroyed in World War II during the bombing of Munich, but casts remain. In 1939, Gaillard described a second species of ''Stri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Accipitriformes
The Accipitriformes (; from Latin ''accipiter''/''accipitri-'' "hawk", and New Latin ''-formes'' "having the form of") are an order of birds that includes most of the diurnal birds of prey, including hawks, eagles, vultures, and kites, but not falcons. For a long time, the majority view was to include them with the falcons in the Falconiformes, but many authorities now recognize a separate Accipitriformes. A DNA study published in 2008 indicated that falcons are not closely related to the Accipitriformes, being instead more closely related to parrots and passerines. Since then, the split and the placement of the falcons next to the parrots in taxonomic order has been adopted by the American Ornithological Society's South American Classification Committee (SACC), its North American Classification Committee (NACC), and the International Ornithological Congress (IOC). The British Ornithologists' Union already recognized the Accipitriformes, and has adopted the move of Falconiformes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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