Abstract
BackgroundPhorusrhacidae was a clade including middle-sized to giant terrestrial carnivorous birds, known mainly from the Cenozoic of South America, but also occurring in the Plio-Pleistocene of North America and the Eocene of Africa. Previous reports of small phorusrhacids in the Paleogene of Europe have been dismissed as based on non-phorusrhacid material.Methodologywe have re-examined specimens of large terrestrial birds from the Eocene (late Lutetian) of France and Switzerland previously referred to gastornithids and ratites and have identified them as belonging to a phorusrhacid for which the name Eleutherornis cotei should be used.Conclusions/SignificanceThe occurrence of a phorusrhacid in the late Lutetian of Europe indicates that these flightless birds had a wider geographical distribution than previously recognized. The likeliest interpretation is that they dispersed from Africa, where the group is known in the Eocene, which implies crossing the Tethys Sea. The Early Tertiary distribution of phorusrhacids can be best explained by transoceanic dispersal, across both the South Atlantic and the Tethys.
Highlights
The Phorusrhacidae were terrestrial carnivorous birds, ranging in height from about 90 cm to more than 2 m, which are a highly distinctive element of the Cenozoic faunas of South America [1,2,3,4].They reached North America in the Pliocene during the Great American Biotic Interchange following the formation of the Isthmus of Panama [5]
A reappraisal of various fossil avian remains from France and Switzerland leads to the conclusion that a quite large flightless bird of the family Phorusrhacidae was present in Europe at the end of the Middle Eocene, apparently after the extinction of another family of large terrestrial birds previously well represented in Europe, the Gastornithidae
Current stratigraphic evidence suggests that the presence of phorusrhacids was of short duration, apparently being restricted to the late Lutetian (MP14). During this short time span phorusrhacids presumably were among the top predators in Europe. Why they failed to diversify and prosper in Europe, unlike what happened in South America where a considerable phorusrhacid radiation took place during the Cenozoic, is not completely clear, but the competition of placental carnivores may have played an important part [9]
Summary
The Phorusrhacidae (the so-called ‘‘terror birds’’) were terrestrial carnivorous birds, ranging in height from about 90 cm to more than 2 m, which are a highly distinctive element of the Cenozoic faunas of South America [1,2,3,4].They reached North America in the Pliocene during the Great American Biotic Interchange following the formation of the Isthmus of Panama [5]. The re-examination of avian fossils from two Middle Eocene localities, in France and Switzerland, previously referred to other groups of giant birds, shows that phorusrhacids were present in Europe during the Palaeogene.
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