Mesembriornis

Mesembriornis is a genus of intermediate-sized phorusrhacids that grew up to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) in height. They represent a well-distinct lineage of terror birds, differing from the massive large groups and the smaller Psilopterinae. In general proportions, they most resembled the Patagornithinae which flourished somewhat earlier, mainly to the south of the range of Mesembriornis. Fossils of the terror bird have been found in Montehermosan deposits of the Monte Hermoso Formation, as well as the Andalgala Formation and Chapadmalal Formation in Argentina.

Mesembriornis

Moreno & Mercerat · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
HermosiornithidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Coelurosauria
Life habit
ground dwelling, solitaryPBDB, for Theropoda
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Theropoda
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Theropoda

Time the record covers

At most 4.4 million years on record.

Every occurrence read is dated to somewhere between 8 Mya and 3.6 Mya, and nothing in the dating separates them, so that window is what the record shows rather than a span.

Miocene — about 1 of 7 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 6 of 7 occurrencesPliocene8.1–8.0 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences8.0–7.8 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences7.8–7.6 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences7.6–7.4 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences7.4–7.2 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences7.2–7.1 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences7.1–6.9 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences6.9–6.7 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences6.7–6.5 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences6.5–6.3 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences6.3–6.2 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences6.2–6.0 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences6.0–5.8 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.8–5.6 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.6–5.4 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.4–5.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.3–5.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.1–4.9 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences4.9–4.7 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences4.7–4.5 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences4.5–4.4 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences4.4–4.2 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences4.2–4.0 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences4.0–3.8 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences3.8–3.6 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.6–3.5 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences8.5 Mya3.1 Mya

7 occurrences of Mesembriornis on record, most of them in the Pliocene. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

7 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

3 formations

Monte Hermoso — 38.00°S, 61.00°WMonte Hermoso — 38.97°S, 61.70°WIrene — 38.63°S, 60.61°WCorral Quemado — 26.97°S, 66.84°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Mesembriornis has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Mesembriornis and its relatives

Pliocene

Where Mesembriornis and its relatives were recorded in the Pliocene.

Found in the same rock

130 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 4 sites for Mesembriornis, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

5 references

Each of the 7 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Mesembriornis

Credit
Moreno & Mercerat
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Mesembriornis was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itHermosiornithidae through timeFormations of the PlioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Moreno 1889