BRONTORNIS BURMEISTERI MORENO & MERCERAT, 1891, UN ANSERIFORMES (AVES) GIGANTE DEL MIOCENO MEDIO DE PATAGONIA, ARGENTINA

AGNOLIN, FEDERICO

Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales

Museo ARgentino de Ciencias Naturales

Año: 2007 p. 15 - 25

1514-5158

Since its original description,  Brontornis burmeisteri was considered as closely related to the family Phorusrhacidae (Gruiformes). Brontornis is known only by scarce postcranial remains, fragmentary mandibles and a quadrate bone. All the material comes from the Miocene of Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. A reanalysis of this material indicates that Brontornis may be more properly included within the Anseriformes as a basal member of this group, together with Diatryma and the extinct family Dromornithidae. Its inclusion within the Anseriformes suggests a more complex evolutionary history of the poorly known paleoavifaunas of South America.