Physornis

Physornis is an extinct genus of giant flightless predatory birds of the family Phorusrhacidae or "terror birds", most closely related to Paraphysornis, that lived in Argentina. The type species is P. fortis. It lived during the Middle to Late Oligocene (Deseadan). Few fossils are known, but the available material suggests that Physornis was one of the largest phorusrhacids. The holotype of Physornis (BMNH-A583) is a 137 mm long portion of a symphysis and the right branch of this lower jaw, described in 1894 by paleontologist Florentino Ameghino. He published the name, together with a description but without a drawing, in the same year. The fossil was collected from the Oligocene layers of Santa Cruz Province, Argentina and the Deseadan era SALMA, making it one of the older known phorusrhacid species. The type specimen of Physornis fortis is very fragmetary and besides the type symphysis has virtually no other characteristics, and this has caused the validity of the species to come into question. Ornithologist and paleontologist Bryan Patterson suggested that the type specimen could be from the pelvis of a mammal, claiming that it is a nomen dubium. However in 2003 during their review of phorusrhacidae, Herculano Alvarenga and Elizabeth Höfling found the type symphysis to be diagnostic and from a large phorusrhacid similar to Paraphysornis and Brontornis, though the latter has since been suggested to be a galliform. Florentino Ameghino named another genus and species of phorusrhacid in 1898, Aucornis eurhynchus, based on a partial mandibular symphysis, proximal tarsometatarsus, and 3 pedal phalanges recovered from the "cretaceo de Patagonia", though these fossils most likely date to the Oligocene instead. This species has been synonymized with Physornis fortis based on the anatomy of the symphysis. Another species, Aucornis solidus, was named the next year by Ameghino based on a proximal portion of a phalanx from the third toe found in the same area.