Thegornis is an extinct genus of herpetotherine falconid that lived during the Miocene of South America. The genus was erected by Florentino Ameghino in 1895 based on two species, T. musculosus and T. debilis. However, T. debilis was later suggested to be an invalid species, with the differences between it and T. musculosus being due to sexual dimorphism. Two additional species, T. spivacowi and T. sosae, were subsequently named in later years by Federico Agnolín.[1][2] Its skull and postcranial morphology are similar to the laughing falcon and forest falcon, which together form the clade Herpetotherinae.[3] The seriema Noriegavis's holotype was transferred to this genus and the well-preserved specimen described in 2015 attributed to Noriegavis has been classified into Miocariama.

Thegornis
Temporal range: early Miocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Falconiformes
Family: Falconidae
Subfamily: Herpetotherinae
Genus: Thegornis
Ameghino, 1895
Type species
Thegornis musculosus
Ameghino, 1895
Other species
  • T. debilis Ameghino, 1895
  • T. spivacowi Agnolín, 2022
  • T. sosae Agnolín, 2023
Synonyms
  • Noriegavis


References

edit
  1. ^ Agnolín, Federico L. (2022). "New fossil birds from the Miocene of Patagonia, Argentina". Poeyana. 513: 1–43. ISSN 2410-7492.
  2. ^ Agnolín, Federico L. (2023). "A new species of the Falcon genus Thegornis (Aves) from the Miocene of Northwestern Argentina" (PDF). Historia Natural. 13 (2): 15–24.
  3. ^ Jorge I. Noriega; Juan I. Areta; Sergio F. Vizcaíno; M. Susana Bargo (2011). "Phylogeny and Taxonomy of the Patagonian Miocene Falcon Thegornis musculosus Ameghino, 1895 (Aves: Falconidae)". Journal of Paleontology. 85 (6): 1089–1104. Bibcode:2011JPal...85.1089N. doi:10.1666/10-122.1. hdl:11336/76576. S2CID 84262902.