Paraphysornis
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| Paraphysornis | |
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| Reconstructed skeleton | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Cariamiformes |
| Family: | †Phorusrhacidae |
| Genus: | †Paraphysornis Alvarenga, 1993 |
| Species: | †P. brasiliensis
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| Binomial name | |
| †Paraphysornis brasiliensis (Alvarenga, 1982)
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| Synonyms | |
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Physornis brasiliensis | |
Paraphysornis is an extinct genus of giant flightless predatory birds of the family Phorusrhacidae or "terror birds" within the subfamily Brontornithinae that lived in Brazil. Its length was about 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) and the skull had a length of 60 centimetres (24 in). The only known species is Paraphysornis brasiliensis.
Description
Its height to the head was approximately 2.4 metres (7.9 ft) and the skull had a length of 60 centimetres (24 in). The terror bird was slightly smaller than Brontornis burmeisteri, but larger than Phorusrhacos longissimus.[1] It lived around 23 million years ago and its fossils were recovered from the Tremembé Formation of the Taubaté Basin. In the Museum of Natural History of Taubaté is exposed the almost complete skeleton of Paraphysornis found in 1982 by Herculano Alvarenga.
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Restoration -
Model in Vienna
References
- ^ Alvarenga & Höfling, 2003, p.58
Bibliography
Further reading
- Alvarenga, H.M.F. (1982) Uma gigantesca ave fóssil do cenozóico brasileiro: Physornis brasiliensis sp. n. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências 54(4):697-712
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