PBDB Taxon

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Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Mesembriornis

Reptilia - Gruiformes - Hermosiornithidae

Taxonomy

Mesembriornis was named by Moreno (1889).

It was synonymized subjectively with Phororhacos by Ameghino (1894).

It was assigned to Gastornithidae by Zittel (1890); to Stereornithidae by Moreno and Mercerat (1891); to Mesembriornithinae by Alvarenga and Holfing (2003), Gould and Quitmyer (2005) and Bertelli et al. (2007); and to Phorusrhacidae by Tambussi et al. (2023).

Species

M. milneedwardsi, M. quatrefagesi, Palaeociconia australis, Prophororhacos incertus

Synonyms

Prophororhacos is a genus.

It was synonymized subjectively with Mesembriornis by Alvarenga and Holfing (2003).

It was assigned to Phororhacidae by Rovereto (1914) and Lambrecht (1933); and to Prophororhacinae by Mourer-Chauviré (1981).
Hermosiornis was named by Rovereto (1914). It is the type genus of Hermosiornithidae.

It was synonymized subjectively with Mesembriornis by Alvarenga and Holfing (2003).

It was assigned to Hermosiornidae by Rovereto (1914) and Lambrecht (1933); and to Hermosiornithidae by Wetmore (1960).
Prociconia was named by Ameghino (1889).

It was synonymized subjectively with Palaeociconia by Lambrecht (1933).
Palaeociconia was named by Moreno (1889).

It was synonymized subjectively with Phororhacos by Ameghino (1894); it was synonymized subjectively with Mesembriornis by Alvarenga and Holfing (2003).

It was assigned to Ciconiidae by Lambrecht (1933); and to Palaeociconiinae by Mourer-Chauviré (1981).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1889	Prociconia Ameghino
1889	Mesembriornis Moreno p. 29
1889	Palaeociconia Moreno p. 30
1890	Mesembriornis Zittel p. 837
1891	Mesembriornis Moreno and Mercerat p. 49
1914	Prophororhacos Rovereto p. 114
1914	Hermosiornis Rovereto p. 163
1933	Palaeociconia Lambrecht p. 321
1933	Prophororhacos Lambrecht p. 508
1933	Hermosiornis Lambrecht p. 516
1960	Hermosiornis Wetmore p. 27
1981	Palaeociconia Mourer-Chauviré p. 643
1981	Prophororhacos Mourer-Chauviré p. 643
2003	Mesembriornis Alvarenga and Holfing p. 86
2005	Mesembriornis Gould and Quitmyer p. 205 figs. Table 2
2007	Mesembriornis Bertelli et al. p. 415
2023	Mesembriornis Tambussi et al. p. 279

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	Osteichthyes	()
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
—	Sauropsida
class	Reptilia
subclass	Eureptilia	()
—	Romeriida
—	Diapsida	()
—	Archosauromorpha	(Huene 1946)
—	Crocopoda
—	Archosauriformes	Gauthier 1986
—	Eucrocopoda

Rank	Name	Author
—	Archosauria	()
informal	Avemetatarsalia
—	Ornithodira
—	Dinosauromorpha
—	Dinosauriformes
—	Dinosauria	()
—	Theropoda	()
—	Neotheropoda
—	Averostra	Paul 2002
—	Tetanurae
—	Coelurosauria	()
—	Maniraptora
—	Paraves
class	Aves
subclass	Neornithes	Gadow 1893
—	Neognathae	(Pycraft 1900)
—	Neoaves	Sibley et al. 1988
—	Terrestrornithes
—	Telmatorae
superorder	Charadriimorphae	Huxley 1867
order	Gruiformes	Bonaparte 1854
suborder	Cariamae	Fürbringer 1888
infraorder	Cariamides
superfamily	Cariamoidea
family	Hermosiornithidae	Kraglievich 1932
genus	Mesembriornis

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. †Mesembriornis Moreno 1889

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†Mesembriornis milneedwardsi Moreno 1889

†Mesembriornis quatrefagesi Moreno and Mercerat 1891

Invalid names: Hermosiornis Rovereto 1914 [synonym], Palaeociconia Moreno 1889 [synonym], Prophororhacos [synonym]

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

hydroxyapatiteo

Entire body:

yeso

Adult length:

10 to < 100o

Adult width:

1.0 to < 10o

Adult height:

1.0 to < 10o

Architecture:

compact or denseo

Ontogeny:

accretion, modification of partso

Grouping:

solitaryo

Environment:

terrestrialo

Locomotion:

actively mobileo

Life habit:

ground dwellingo

Diet:

carnivoresubo

Reproduction:

oviparouso

Dispersal:

direct/internalo

Dispersal 2:

mobileo

Created:

2009-01-03 20:39:15

Modified:

2009-01-03 22:39:15

Source: subo = suborder, o = order

References: Marsh 1875, Benton 1983

Age range: Montehermosan or 5.00000 to 3.80000 Ma

Collections (6 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Huayquerian - Montehermosan	8.0 - 3.8	Argentina (Catamarca)	M. incertus (206027)
Early/Lower Pliocene	5.333 - 3.6	Argentina (Buenos Aires)	Hermosiornis sp. (191768)
Montehermosan	5.0 - 3.8	Argentina (Buenos Aires)	M. milneedwardsi (152081 152085 198863) Palaeociconia australis, M. milneedwardsi (13503)