Mesembriornis
Name:
Mesembriornis
Phonetic: Me-sem-bri-or-niss.
Named By: Francisco P. Moreno - 1889.
Classification: Chordata, Aves, Cariamae,
Phorusrhacidae, Mesembriornithinae.
Species: M. incertus, M.
milneedwardsi.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Up to 1.5 meters tall.
Known locations: Argentina.
Time period: Tortonian of the Miocene through to the
Gelasian of the Pleistocene.
Fossil representation: Enough fossils to identify
one species, but the bones are fragmentary.
Mesembriornis
was a middle of the range 'terror bird’ with regards to its size,
but it was one of the last known to have lived. In overall build
Mesembriornis was similar to other medium sized
phorusrhacids such as
Andalgalornis
and may have also filled the same ecological niche as its
earlier predecessor.
Mesembriornis
is usually depicted as a fast running predator, and while it could
have used its beak to attack and kill prey it has also been theorised
that it may have used its long legs to kick prey as well as possibly
other members of the same genus in interspecific combat as well as to
defend its kills from other predators.
Further reading
- Systematic revision of the
Phorusrhacidae (Aves: Ralliformes). - Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 43(4).
- Herculano M.F. Alvarenga & Elizabeth Höfling - 2003.
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