PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Psilopterus

Reptilia - Gruiformes - Phorusrhacidae

Taxonomy

Psilopterus was named by Moreno and Mercerat (1891).

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

It was assigned to Cathartidae by Moreno and Mercerat (1891) and Mercerat (1897); to Psilopteridae by Wetmore (1960); to Psilopterinae by Mourer-Chauviré (1981), Alvarenga and Holfing (2003), Gould and Quitmyer (2005), Bertelli et al. (2007) and Vizcaíno et al. (2022); and to Phorusrhacidae by Carroll (1988) and Tambussi et al. (2023).

Species

Pelecyornis minutus, Pelecyornis pueyrredonensis, Pelecyornis tenuirostris, P. bachmanni (syn. Phororhacos delicatus), P. colzecus, P. communis, P. intermedius, P. lemoinei (syn. P. australis, Staphylornis erythacus, Staphylornis gallardoi, Pelecyornis tubulatus, Phororhacos modicus), Staphylornis erithaeus, Staphylornis princeps

Synonyms

Staphylornis was named by Mercerat (1897).

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

It was assigned to Dryornithidae by Mercerat (1897); and to Brontornithidae by Lambrecht (1933).
Pelecyornis was named by Ameghino (1891). It is not extant.

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

It was assigned to Patagornithidae by Mercerat (1897); and to Phororhacidae by Lambrecht (1933).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1891	Pelecyornis Ameghino
1891	Psilopterus Moreno and Mercerat p. 67
1897	Pelecyornis Mercerat p. 233
1897	Staphylornis Mercerat p. 233
1897	Psilopterus Mercerat p. 236
1933	Pelecyornis Lambrecht p. 504
1933	Staphylornis Lambrecht p. 513
1960	Psilopterus Wetmore p. 27
1981	Psilopterus Mourer-Chauviré p. 643
1988	Psilopterus Carroll
2003	Psilopterus Alvarenga and Holfing p. 80
2005	Psilopterus Gould and Quitmyer p. 205 figs. Table 2
2007	Psilopterus Bertelli et al. p. 415 figs. Table 2
2022	Psilopterus Vizcaíno et al.
2023	Psilopterus Tambussi et al. p. 276

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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
family	Phorusrhacidae	()
subfamily	Psilopterinae	(Dolgopol de Saez 1927)
genus	Psilopterus

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. †Psilopterus Moreno and Mercerat 1891

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†Psilopterus bachmanni Moreno and Mercerat 1891

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Invalid names: Phororhacos delicatus Amegino 1891 [synonym]

†Psilopterus colzecus Tonni and Tambussi 1988

†Psilopterus communis Moreno and Mercerat 1891

†Psilopterus intermedius Moreno and Mercerat 1891

†Psilopterus lemoinei Moreno and Mercerat 1891

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Invalid names: Pelecyornis tubulatus Ameghino 1894 [synonym], Phororhacos modicus Ameghino 1894 [synonym], Psilopterus australis Moreno and Mercerat 1891 [synonym], Staphylornis erythacus Mercerat 1897 [synonym], Staphylornis gallardoi Mercerat 1897 [synonym]

Invalid names: Pelecyornis Ameghino 1891 [synonym], Staphylornis Mercerat 1897 [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:

terrestrialf

Locomotion:

actively mobileo

Life habit:

ground dwellingf

Diet:

carnivoref

Reproduction:

oviparouso

Dispersal:

direct/internalo

Dispersal 2:

mobileo

Created:

2009-01-03 19:06:43

Modified:

2009-01-03 21:06:43

Source: f = family, o = order

References: Marsh 1875, Witmer and Rose 1991

Age range: base of the Santacrucian to the top of the Lujanian or 17.50000 to 0.01200 Ma

Collections (21 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Early/Lower Miocene	23.03 - 15.97	Argentina	Patagornis lemoinei (66154)
Burdigalian - Langhian	20.44 - 13.82	Argentina (Santa Cruz)	P. lemoinei (197691)
Santacrucian	17.5 - 16.3	Argentina (Santa Cruz)	P. australis (176603) P. bachmanni (176598 176602 210153) P. bachmanni, P. lemoinei (176564 176565) P. lemoinei (87314 142533 176566 176567 176578 176589 210787) P. sp. (176563 210638 210786) P. sp., P. australis, Patagornis bachmanni, P. communis, P. intermedius, P. lemoinei (27313)
Chasicoan	10.0 - 9.0	Argentina (Buenos Aires)	P. colzecus (79180)
Lujanian	0.781 - 0.012	Uruguay (Soriano)	P. sp. (211282)