Bathornis
Sign in to saveBathornis ("tall bird") is an extinct genus of birds related to modern day seriemas, that lived in North America about 37–20 million years ago. Like the closely related and also extinct phorusrhacids, it was a flightless predator, occupying predatory niches in environments classically considered to be dominated by mammals. It was a highly diverse and successful genus, spanning a large number of species that occurred from the Priabonian Eocene to the Burdigalian Miocene epochs.
Wikidata facts
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- Bathornis grallator restoration.jpg
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- taxon name
- Bathornis
- Commons category
- Bathornis
- start time
- 37000000-0
- end time
- 20000000-0
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Article
17 sectionsContents
- Description
- Classification
- Discovery and naming
- Species
- ''Bathornis veredus''
- ''Bathornis cursor''
- ''Bathornis geographicus''
- ''Bathornis fax''
- ''Bathornis celeripes''
- ''Bathornis fricki''
- ''Bathornis minor''
- ''Bathornis grallator''
- Other forms
- Palaeobiology
- Palaeoecology
- Notes
- References
Bathornis ("tall bird") is an extinct genus of birds related to modern day seriemas, that lived in North America about 37–20 million years ago. Like the closely related and also extinct phorusrhacids, it was a flightless predator, occupying predatory niches in environments classically considered to be dominated by mammals. It was a highly diverse and successful genus, spanning a large number of species that occurred from the Priabonian Eocene to the Burdigalian Miocene epochs.
==Description== Though most material is highly incomplete, Bathornis is nonetheless known from a variety of skeletal elements: hindlimbs (most commonly tarso-metatarsals), forelimb elements (especially humeri), pelvises and skulls. Bathornis grallator is known from a mostly complete skeleton, including the skull, bearing a proportionally large, hooked beak. The bathornithid second toe is currently unknown, but the first toe is highly reduced, as with most Cariamiformes, and like phorusrhacids it possesses a robust jugal and reduced processus acrocoracoideus of coracoid, two features possibly having evolved in convergence due to their similar lifestyle.