Andalgalornis

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Andalgalornis Fossil range: Late Miocene - Early Pliocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Gruiformes Family: Phorusrhacidae Genus: Andalgalornis Patterson & Kraglievich, 1960 Species: A. steulleti
Binomial name
Andalgalornis steulleti (Kraglievich, 1931)
Synonyms
Phororhacos steulleti Kraglievich, 1931 Phororhacos deautieri Kraglievich, 1931 Andalgalornis ferox Patterson & Kraglievich, 1960 Phorohacos deautieri Kraglievich, 1931

Andalgalornis steulleti was a species of giant flightless predatory birds of the family Phorusrhacidae or "terror birds" that lived in Argentina.

It is known from an incomplete skeleton and some single bones found in the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene Andalgala Formation of sites in the Entre Ríos and Catamarca Provinces of NE and NW Argentina. (Chiquimil) Provinces.

The birds stood around one and a half meters tall. The subfamily to which the genus belonged, the Patagornithinae, contained species that were of quite slender build; it looked much like a more elegant and smaller Phorusrhacos, but had a proportionally higher beak, the most massive in regards to the overall size of the bird of all phorusrhacids.

[edit] References

• Alvarenga, Herculano M. F. & Höfling, Elizabeth (2003): Systematic revision of the Phorusrhacidae (Aves: Ralliformes). Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 43(4): 55-91 PDF fulltext
• Kraglievich, Lucas (1931): Contribución al conocimiento de las aves fósiles de la época araucoentrerriana. Physis 10: 304-315. [Article in Spanish]
• Patterson, B. & Kraglievich, Lucas (1960): Sistemática y nomenclatura de las aves fororracoideas del Plioceno Argentino. Publicacion del Museo Municipal Ciencias Naturales y Tradicionales de Mar del Plata 1: 1-51. [Article in Spanish]