Phorusrhacos

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Phorusrhacos
Fossil range: Early - Middle Miocene

Drawing of Phorusrhacos by Charles R. Knight

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Gruiformes
Family:	Phorusrhacidae
Genus:	Phorusrhacos Ameghino, 1887
Species:	P. longissimus

Binomial name

Phorusrhacos longissimus
Ameghino, 1887

Synonyms

see text

Phorusrhacos (pronounced "FOR-rus-RAH-kos") was a genus of giant flightless predatory birds that lived in Patagonia, containing the single species Phorusrhacos longissimus. The name Phorusrhacos means "Rag-bearer". Their closest living relatives are Seriema birds. These fierce birds lived in woodlands and grasslands.

Among the bones found in the stratum of the Santa Cruz Formation (now considered as mainly of mid-Miocene date) was the piece of a mandible which Florentino Ameghino (1887) at first described as that of an edentate mammal. In 1891, it was recognized to be a bird. Remains are known from several localities in the Santa Cruz Province.

Phorusrhacos stood around 2.5 meters tall and weighed approximately 130 kilograms (Alvarenga & Höfling, 2003). It was nicknamed the "Terror Bird" for obvious reasons: it was one of the largest carnivorous birds to have ever existed, and the former wings formed arm-like structures with claws shaped like a meathook for tackling prey, which was then killed with the massive beak. It ate small mammals and carrion. It is thought that the bird grasped their prey with their beak and smashed it to the ground repeatedly, like their modern relatives, the Seriemas.

This terror bird features in the Walking with Beasts episode "Sabre-tooth". Therein, it is claimed that the phorusrhacids were displaced and eventually became extinct due to competition with sabre-toothed cats immigrating from North America.

[edit] Synonyms

Phorusrhacos longissimus and its genus have been described under a number of synonyms:

Genus-level synonymy:

Phorusrhacos Ameghino, 1887 (see Anonymous, 1992)
Phororhacos Ameghino, 1889
Mesembriornis Moreno, 1889
Stereornis Moreno & Mercerat, 1891
Darwinornis Moreno & Mercerat, 1891
Owenornis Moreno & Mercerat, 1891
Titanornis Mercerat, 1893
Callornis Ameghino, 1895
Liornis Ameghino, 1895
Eucallornis Ameghino, 1901
The name is commonly misspelled "Phorusrhacus".

Species-level synonymy:

Phororhacos longissimus Ameghino, 1889
Stereornis rollieri Moreno & Mercerat, 1891
Stereornis gaundryi Moreno & Mercerat, 1891
Mesembriornis studeri Moreno & Mercerat, 1891
Mesembriornis quatrefragesi Moreno & Mercerat, 1891
Darwinornis copei Moreno & Mercerat, 1891
Darwinornis zittelli Moreno & Mercerat, 1891
Darwinornis socialis Moreno & Mercerat, 1891
Owenornis affinis Moreno & Mercerat, 1891
Owenornis lydekkeri Moreno & Mercerat, 1891
Phororhacos sehuensis Ameghino, 1891
Phororhacos platygnathus Ameghino, 1891
Titanornis mirabilis Mercerat, 1893
Callornis giganteus Ameghino, 1895
Liornis floweri Ameghino, 1895
Eucallornis giganteus Ameghino, 1901
Liornis minor Dolgopol de Saez, 1927

The name Phororhacos inflatus, however, is a synonym of the Patagornis.

[edit] In Popular Culture

A stop motion Phorusrhacos under the synonym Phororhacos attacks the ship/balloon wreck surviviors camp in the film Mysterious Island (1961 film).

Phorusrhacos was also featured in the CGI series Walking with Beasts and in the series Prehistoric Park.

[edit] References

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Alvarenga, Herculano M. F. & Höfling, Elizabeth (2003): Systematic revision of the Phorusrhacidae (Aves: Ralliformes). Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 43(4): 55-91 PDF fulltext

Ameghino, Florentino (1887): Enumeración sistemática de las espécies de mamíferos fósiles coleccionados por Carlos Ameghino en los terrenos Eocenos de la Patagonia austral y depositados en el Museo de La Plata. Boletin del Museo de La Plata 1: 1-26. [Article in Spanish]

Ameghino, Florentino (1889): Contribuición al conocimiento de los mamíferos fósiles de la República Argentina. Actas Academia Nacional Ciencias de Córdoba 6: 1-1028. [Article in Spanish]